Living the life
by kohlbits
Summary: Happily married with three kids, Madison and Ephram are living the life. COMPLETE
1. starving artist

Ephram and Madison were out at dinner with a couple neighbors of theirs one night. Their neighbor, Skye, said, "you two have lived next to us for a year now…both of you work in music, I'm sure there's a lot of money in that--"  
"Skye!?" snapped his girlfriend, Kay, "That's not a nice question to ask!"  
Ephram laughed, "we're starving artists, that's why we live in the apartment that we do."  
Madison hit his arm and smiled, "He's kidding. We're not starving artists."

Ephram smiled, "okay, maybe _you're _not a starving artist, but I am."

Madison rolled her eyes, "you're just stubborn, there is no starving part, smartass!" 

Ephram winked at her.

They stayed for a little while longer before heading back to their place. When they got ready for bed, Ephram asked, "so, how many houses are we looking at tomorrow?"  
Madison got excited, jumped into bed next to him, "just two! This really stylish medium blue two story house with a basement. There are five bedrooms and two and a half baths in a really great neighborhood, quiet street." She pulled the paper out of the nightstand and showed it to Ephram who was trying not to smile. He knew this was the house she wanted.

"The other house is a ranch style house, with a pool in the backyard. Three bedrooms, one and a half baths. But…"she paused, "But there's just something missing with this one, I don't know what it is yet."  
Ephram took the paper and tossed it aside, kissing Madison's neck, "we'll just check it out tomorrow."

Madison smiled, turning off the lamp next to the bed then proceeding to kiss Ephram passionately. They've been married a year but they still act as if they just started dating.

The next day, the two met the real estate agent at the location of the medium blue house. They talked outside for a few minutes before going inside to check out the rest of the house. When they entered the house, they noticed cathedral ceilings, hardwood floors, very spacious kitchen with a bar in the middle. The rooms were bright and Madison was gleaming with delight, trying to hold her composure as she yanked on Ephram's arm who was trying not to laugh.

They took a tour of the basement where there was a large room then a hallway to two other rooms and a bathroom. The large room had three steps ending at a sliding door into the backyard. Ephram said, "This is rather cool. One of these rooms could be your office, Madison, so say…while I'm practicing the piano upstairs then you wont hear it and you'll be able to get work done…"

"What are we going to do with five bedrooms?!" Madison asked happily, "one for my office…We're thinking future plans, so…a guestroom maybe?"  
They went back upstairs, then went to the second floor where the real estate agent said, "and from the master bedroom, you will have a view of Manhattan. It doesn't even look as if it's 20 minutes away."  
Madison went straight to the window, then noticed the walk-in closet and the bathroom. She was speechless, all she could do was jump around ecstatically. 

"Madison, me and the real estate guy will be right back, keep touring the house." Ephram said, smiling. He and the agent went outside.

So, tell me about this house?" asked Ephram quietly putting his hands in his pockets, "How long will the paperwork take?"  
"Well Mr. Brown." said the agent in a professional tone, "the seller is fine with the bid you put in for this house. I think, since everything has cleared completely and there are no problems, then this house could be yours as soon as next week just as long as we tell the seller and you sign on the dotted line."  
Ephram smiled as Madison came outside. Ephram shook the agent's hand and gave him a hug, quietly saying, "this is just between you and me."

"This is such a beautiful house!" cried Madison happily.

The real estate agent said, "shall we be off to go check out the other house?"

The three of them went and checked out the other house, but Ephram knew that Madison had her heart on the medium blue house so he wasn't as interested in wanting to know everything about the other house.


	2. our first house

The beginning of next week, Ephram told Madison that he would pick her up from work after he got out of class because he wanted to show her something.   
Madison got in the car and with an excited smile on her face, asked, "where we going?!"

"I cant tell you. And for safety measures you have to wear this blindfold."  
"you're kidding?" Madison asked, lowering her head.

Ephram raised his eyebrows, "please? We don't want to lose the daylight, we only have a couple more hours?"

Madison rolled her eyes, "this better be good" and she took the blindfold and put it over her eyes.

About 15 minutes later they arrived in front of the medium blue house. Ephram got out then went over to Madison's door and let her out, then led her to the middle of the yard where he then took the blindfold off her eyes. He didn't say anything, just stood there smiling as Madison looked around confused.

"What is this?" she asked innocently

Ephram pulled out a piece of paper and held it up, "Welcome to your new home Mrs. Kellner-Brown." And a smile swept across his face as Madison processed what he just said.

She exhaled, covering her mouth with her hands as tears formed in her eyes.

"See, there are some things a starving artist can afford." Ephram said jokingly as he pulled her towards him. "Ready to go in?" he asked as he picked her up and carried her over the threshold and into the house. Her arms were wrapped around his neck, all the while happily laughing. When they went inside, jazz music could be heard in the background. Madison went to investigate, she was intrigued. She gasped when she entered the kitchen, a few vases of pink roses were spread all about. Ephram was standing behind her, smiling at how happy she was. Madison turned around, her head tilted, "Ephram, you still find ways to take my breath away!"

He held out his hand, "dance with me."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, she put her arms around his neck, and the two slow-danced together, talking and joking for a while before they decided to leave. As they got outside, a new neighbor came towards them, "Hi!" she cried happily, "You two must be moving in?"  
Ephram smiled and nodded, his arm around Madison's waist, "that's right. I'm Ephram. This is my wife, Madison." Madison couldn't help but smile, she loved being called Ephram's wife. Even though it's been a year, she still cant help but smile.

"My name is Torry! I live in that house on the corner! If you need anything, anything at all, let me know! Most everybody on this street is friendly, we almost all know each other by name. You'll probably meet Skylar and his girlfriend, Quinn, sometime soon. Skylar is the nicest fella! Some people are intimidated cuz he's got tons o' tattoos and several facial piercings. He's a tattoo artist but he's so sweet. Quinn goes to school at Julliard, she's such a talented violinist!"  
Madison squeezed Ephram's hand, "Ephram goes to Julliard! We'll have to have a welcome party or something."  
"You know, Madison!" replied Torry, "that sounds like a great idea! I'll pass it along and we'll have it once you two settle in!"

Ephram and Madison finally made it back to their apartment, ecstatic as ever. Madison tilted her head, "Ephram, I _love _you! Even if you are a starving artist."  
"That'd make you a starving artist's wife." he said jokingly as he pulled her close to him.

"you're such a great husband. Husband! I cant get enough of that word!" she said planting kisses all over Ephram's face.

"Madison, I love you so much! Thank you for sharing my life with me!" and he slowly kissed her deeply.

"This means so much to me, Sweetie! The house is in a great location and not too far from either of our jobs!" She hugged him tightly.

"We get to finally add our things together. Your retro indie stuff with my complete modern stuff. You can do the decorating."  
"oh, you'll let me huh." smiled Madison teasingly.

"Can you believe I graduate next semester!" Ephram said enthusiastically as they sat together on the couch. Nothing could get either of them down.


	3. move in day

A few days later they finally moved into the medium blue house and took their stuff out of storage. Madison was so excited, she loved everything that was going on and was happy to help the Movers move the stuff into the big entry way. Not too long afterwards, Torry came over to help them out. She was excited to have new neighbors.

"You kids look so young! Then again, half the people on this block are under the age of 30! I'm an exception, proud of it too! Just a little over 71 years old, people call me mama T."

"I'm 22." Ephram said, kicking the ground, "Madison is 26. This is our first house together, we've been married for a year now." Madison walked up and hugged Ephram from behind.

"That is just too sweet!" Torry said dreamily, "what brought you kids out this way? Oh wait, that's right, Ephram goes to Julliard."

"We're both into music. Madison works for a music label, promoting new bands and stuff like that. She also tours sometimes. I work for the Mandolin Symphony."

"Oh look!" Torry replied, waving at a person she knows. The person made their way over and Torry replied, "Jacob Lucas, these are our new neighbors, Ephram and Madison!" She turned towards them, "this is Jacob Lucas, he's 15 and belongs to that house over there" she said pointing to the white house with black shutters.

"Heeeey!" Jacob Lucas said fondly, "aren't you Madison Kellner?!? You like, promoted my favorite band of all time! You are like, so famous!"

Madison stopped hugging Ephram and smiled, "I'm hardly famous, Jacob Lucas."

Jacob's eyes became wide, "where have you been?!?! If it weren't for you, then nobody would know any of these punk rock bands! And you yourself have a band too, right! I mean, you're just so awesome I can't believe I'm living next to a famous person!" he ran off to tell his parents.

Not too long afterwards, Skylar and his girlfriend, Quinn came by to say hello. Skylar was 6'4", long black hair pulled up in dread locks in a ponytail and tattoos showing everywhere. Three tongue rings, two lip rings and an eyebrow ring in each eyebrow.

"So Mama T has told us a lot about you guys." he said shaking Ephram's hand, "You and Quinn go to the same school. She says she has heard of you and that Julliard was after you for a few years before you took them up on their offer. Whether you know it or not man, you're a celebrity around here since most of us listen to Jazz music."

All Ephram could do was shake his hand and nod. He was stunned to know people knew who he was.

Quinn shook his hand next, "wow, its such a pleasure to finally meet _The _Ephram Brown."

Torry broke in after looking at her watch, "Well kids, I must go. One of my afternoon shows are on and I can't miss it! See you around!"

Finally the Movers unpacked everything from the truck and left. Skylar and Quinn left not too long after that. Madison still couldn't believe she was known by a 15 year old kid.

Ephram pulled her close, "Well…glad to know I'm the one married to the celebrity!"  
Madison kissed him, "you're a celebrity too, you know."  
Ephram laughed as he hugged Madison, "oh this is too much! Moving into our first house then people telling us we're 'well known', that's crazy!"

Madison half smiled, "lets take a walk."

Ephram said, "Okay, sounds good," and headed for the door. Madison grabbed his shirt, "I _mean_, lets take a walk upstairs" and she pulled him by his shirt upstairs.

Ephram got the hint, "oh even better!"

When they got there, they had to zigzag their way to the bed since most of the furniture was in or around the doorway and all throughout the room and in the hallway. Ephram took Madison in his arms and kissed her passionately, lovingly. They helped each other out of their shirts then ripped at each other's belts. The mattress was on the floor since the bed frame wasn't put together yet so they flopped on the mattress, never breaking away from their intense kissing. 

They fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms in their new house. Madison's hand on Ephram's chest, his arm around her, rubbing her back slowly.


	4. hard days work

The next day while Ephram was walking from his car to campus, somebody was taking photographs of him. He didn't think much of it and shrugged it off for the whole day. He had to write a symphony for his final project and he was almost done, but it seemed as if it was taking forever. It stressed him out so much, it was as if he lived at Julliard. He wasn't much for writing music, just playing other people's music. It's not that he was stressed out about writing the symphony, it was more about playing it in front of a whole lot of people in less than three weeks. He figured if he stayed late today then he would be able to finish the piece and then he and the orchestra could practice it. He would have a solo piece that would last about 5 minutes, but nonetheless, the whole thing scared him.

While in the music room finishing up on his project, one of his professor's stopped by, "Mr. Brown, what are you doing here so late? Shouldn't you be home with your wife?"  
"Oh, Professor Aicher, nice to see you." he smiled, "Madison is at work. Plus I want to get this project done so we could start practicing."  
"You're nervous aren't you? You know. You're going to be missed after next semester. Perhaps, if you want a part time teaching job then I'm sure we can figure something out." Professor Aicher smiled, raising her eyebrows.

"Professor, can I ask you something?" Ephram asked as he sighed.

The professor nodded.

"What makes you think that the symphony I'm writing will even be any good? I mean, I'm not that great at writing music."  
"Its in the heart, Ephram." she blinked slowly, "aren't you the one who had a hand in writing the symphony, 'Breathless'?"  
"Well," Ephram said looking up, "it wasn't meant to be a symphony. It was just something I wrote-"  
"From the heart…see, that's all you need. Don't be so modest Ephram Brown. You're one of the best pianists Julliard has seen in a very long time."  
"Well…Thanks Professor."  
"I don't want to keep you, so I'll let you get back to work." and she left the room as Ephram sat on the piano bench with a pencil in hand, tapping on his leg.

Madison was at work, just about to pack up and go home when a co-worker of hers came into her office and started talking to her. They were chatting, "Did you get the email today that Jack sent? I don't know what it is, but instead of just sending out memos, he's emailing them now."

Madison was too busy rummaging through her briefcase, "no I haven't checked it at all today. Why don't you check it for me."

Her co-worker jumped on her computer and opened up her email then scrolled down the page. "Oh look, Ephram sent you an email!" 

Madison made her way over to her computer, "What are you talking about?"

Before she could do anything, her co-worker opened the email, it was a greeting card. She opened it and not too long afterwards "_You Raise Me Up_" by Josh Groban was heard through the speakers. Madison fell into her chair behind her, reading what Ephram had written, "I love you." with a happy emoticon bouncing around.

Her co-worker interrupted, "that…oh my golly goodness!" She looked at Madison, "you're blushing! That is just too much for words! I've known you for 5 years now, right! I've never seen you blush! Hey now, so when I am going to meet prince charming, huh?"

Madison smiled, "We'll see. Things are a bit hectic right now."  
"Oh, I see how it is, you just want to keep him for yourself!"

The two laughed, then Madison decided to head for home.

When Madison pulled into the driveway, two of her neighbors were waiting for her; Jacob Lucas and mama T. "There you are Madison! When is your husband getting home? We figured you two moved in yesterday, now, and we haven't even thrown you a welcome party!"

Madison chuckled, "there really is no need, Torry!"  
"I'm almost 72 years old, don't make me drag you to this party! Don't worry dear, its at my house and I'll be kicking everybody out and going to bed in less than 2 hours."

Jacob Lucas laughed, "mama T, you're going to bed at 9pm!?!?"  
"Shut up, boy, don't make me take you across my knee!"

Just then, Ephram pulled into the driveway. He got out and walked up to where everybody else was. Kissed Madison sweetly on the lips before mama T told him what the plans were.

They walked over to mama T's house, Madison and Ephram walking arm in arm behind the other two. Everybody was finally glad to meet their new neighbors, the two 'well known' faces.

Ephram got the low down on the people who take his picture; the paparazzi. "What's so great about taking pictures of the guy who plays piano for the Mandolin Symphony?"

Quinn broke in, "Ephram, you are so modest! You're one of Julliard's best pianist since…Since…I don't know, that Jacob character."  
"Yeah right." Ephram smiled.


	5. just another random question

Everybody talked for a little while longer, getting to know each other before mama T kicked everybody out.

Quinn told Madison and Ephram that they should stop by one evening. They could put on a little groovy concert since Madison sings, Ephram plays the piano and Quinn plays the violin.

Ephram said, "Well, its going to have to be after this semester when I finish this project I have to do."  
"No problemo man!" she turned towards Skylar, "okay babikins, lets go home!" and she jumped on his back. Madison and Ephram walked arm in arm back to their place, all they wanted to do was go to bed. It was getting dark and a few outside lights on people's houses could be seen shining through the darkness. The deserted street could barely be seen beneath them as they walked.

"Oh, before I forget" Madison said, bumping Ephram's hip with hers, "that was a very sweet email you sent me today."

Ephram put his arm around her waist as they walked, "that song reminds me of you. Because you do, you inspire me to want to do so much."

"Would you love me if all of my hair fell out?"  
Ephram laughed at the randomness of the question, "schweet hea't," he said in a New York accent, "I'd love you even if all of your teeth fell out. I'm not in love with just one thing, I'm in love with everything about you! Where'd that question come from anyway?"  
Madison smiled, "would you love me if I gained 40 pounds and looked like an overgrown watermelon?"  
Ephram laughed and closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head at how funny Madison was being, "you could gain 100 pounds, I'd love you anyway!"

They got to the front door, Madison pulled him close, "what would you prefer, a boy of a girl?"

At first Ephram was confused, then he pulled away to look at Madison, "are you!? When di--oh my god!" He picked her up and twirled her around out of excitement. She held onto his neck and lifted her feet up behind her, laughing the whole time.

"I found out two weeks ago."  
Ephram looked at her with adoring eyes as he brushed a couple strands of hair out of her face.

Before going to bed, the two started straightening up their room, unpacking boxes, putting things in new places so they could actually walk through the room without tripping over something. Madison pulled something out of a box, stood up then went over to show Ephram, "look at this!" It was one of his comic books. He tried to take it away but Madison was too fast, she raised up her hand to get it away from him

He laughed, trying to get it, "which book is that?!" He jumped up and took it away, but before he could even look at it, Madison put him in a headlock. The two were laughing and wrestling and acting like children for a little while before his cell phone rang. It was Delia. She forgot about the time difference, she always did.

"Dee!" cried Ephram, panting, "its 11pm here, why are you calling so late!"

Madison stole the comic book and made funny faces at Ephram since he couldn't do anything to stop her.

"Sorry Eph. Its only 9pm here, I forgot about the time difference! Guess what!" She sounded happy, "I have vacation next week and Dad said we could come visit you! Plus Grampa and Nonny live about 40 minutes from you so we figured we'd kill two birds with one stone!"  
"That's awesome Dee! We moved, so you and Dad get to see our new house!"

They talked for a little while longer before Ephram hung up and climbed into bed with Madison. Before falling asleep she said, "maybe if we wait long enough, your dad and Delia can help us unpack."   
Ephram smirked, snuggling up close to his wife before falling asleep.


	6. new thoughts and ideas

The next day was Saturday and Ephram was thinking of going to Julliard to practice for a couple hours.  
"Sweetie," Madison said, "I know what you're thinking and I think you need a break! Taking a day off from practicing wont kill you…" She raised her eyebrows as she unpacked boxes, waiting for Ephram's reply.

He tilted his head as he thought about it. He pulled on the little patch of hair under his bottom lip, "…Okay," he said making his way to Madison, "you're right, I do need a break." he smiled, "so does that mean I don't have to help unpack?" he grinned, already knowing the answer.

"Har har. Funny smartass, but no, you're helping me today," she bent down to unpack a box, "call it, quality bonding if you want to." she tossed a box to him before she left the room to start on something else.

Everything for the upstairs was almost completely unpacked. Afterwards they headed downstairs to finish the unpacking there. Madison wore a do-rag to keep her hair from falling into her face, an old white tank top and some old holey jeans of hers so she wouldn't get any of her newer clothes dirty or ripped. Ephram didn't wear a shirt, just wore some baggy jeans and old shoes. Madison opened all the windows and the back door to let in some cool air to circulate around the house. With the extra space in the living room they figured they could put Ephram's piano and keyboard near the wall and make a little area just for the instruments. The way Madison arranged it made the whole room look rather chic.

After several hours of unpacking, they finally finished and had tons of empty boxes to throw out. They collapsed on the couch in the oversized living room. A furtive smile came over Madison's lips as she lay on Ephram's shoulder, "I think we should go shopping for new furniture!" she got excited at the thought. She sat up in an instant and shot a look towards Ephram, "you're sister can help me out next week!" She stood up, "Ah! I'm so excited!" and she quickly walked to the kitchen to make out a list of things to do next week; places to go, people to see. Ephram just sat on the couch amused. He looked around and was proud of everything he had accomplished. Suddenly, an image of his mom came into his head; she looked happy, proud of her son and everything he has done in the passed few years. A tear formed in his eye, but he was smiling. It gave him a sense of comfort to know that she was still with him. He decided to find an old photograph of him and his mother and put it on the coffee table. Once they figure where to put the photographs, he'll hang that one up above the stairs with the rest of the family photos. He couldn't stop looking at it.

Tuesday came around and Madison and Ephram met Andy and Delia at the airport around 7pm. Much to their surprise, Bright and Jess had come with them. 

Bright put down his bags to bear hug Ephram, "I missed you, bro! Plus, I'd never been to New York so I figured I'd come and make you show me the sights!"

"Gawd, I missed you!" cried Jess as she hugged Madison tightly. 

Ephram hugged Delia, "Dee, what's in your hair?"

"Electric blue streaks" she smiled happily.

Andy replied with a half smile, "apparently that's the style kids her age go for nowadays."  
"And you let her?!" Ephram screeched.

"Madison used to put red streaks in her hair!" cried Delia.

"Well…that's different" replied Ephram trying to sound convincing.

"Just for argument sake…sure" replied Delia amused

Everybody hugged each other, greeted and joked with each other before they headed to Madison's truck.

Delia jumped up and down happily, "which vehicle is yours, Madison!?!?"  
Ephram chuckled, "see that ugly rusted, beat up, blue car with the sticker on the back?"  
Delia's face scrunched up and breathed, "disgusting!"

"Well, it's the white Escalade beside it"

Bright's jaw dropped to the ground as he gasped. He was speechless.

Madison unlocked the door with her keyless entry pad, saying, "you guys are lucky we brought this vehicle, otherwise we wouldn't have had enough room with Ephram's car!"

"What vehicle is that?" asked Andy smiling.

"I have Maddi's old protégé. Its all I need, plus, she's the one who wanted a new vehicle."  
Madison jokingly said, "plus, Starving Artist over here didn't want to spend the money on two new vehicles."

They all piled in and made their way to the new house.

Delia asked, "you guys aren't still at that apartment are you? I mean, you did move since the last time we visited last year, right?"  
Madison looked in the mirror at Delia, "you'll see, sweetie."


	7. time for a visit

Not too long afterwards they pulled into the driveway of their new house. Ephram jokingly said, "oh yeah, and, apparently we're infamous around here." as he pointed to the person with the camera between two houses on the other side of the street. 

They all flooded out and made their way into the house. The spiral staircase in the decent sized entryway was the first thing everybody saw. The living room was straight ahead and the kitchen was off to the left. Ephram gave everybody a tour of the house and when they got to the basement, Jess asked, "so, what are you going to do with this room? Arcade maybe? Pool table, big screen TV?"

Madison replied, "I'm going furniture shopping tomorrow while Ephram is at school, so if you and Delia want to come and help me out, you are more than welcome to!"

Bright asked, "what am I and Dr. B gonna be doing while you ladies are out shopping and dip-shit's at school!?!"

Ephram grinned, "mama T will keep you company."

A confused look came over Bright's face. Ephram clued everybody in on the neighbors and how mama T was the oldest one of them and how she liked to be up to speed with everybody coming and going.

That night, everybody got ready for bed. For right now, all Madison and Ephram had were sleeping bags and several extra sheets and pillows, "we need to get a couple futons or something" she said after awhile. 

Ephram was excited about Madison's news and wanted to tell everybody, "guess what!" was all he could get out before Madison shot him a look of death which made him stop, "never mind, I forgot." he lowered his eyebrows and looked at her puzzled. While everybody was talking and joking, Madison pulled Ephram into the other room, "I've been reading up on the first trimester of pregnancy and they say that the first month is always the hardest, that about 70% of women have miscarriages during that time."  
"What are you saying?" asked Ephram

"I just don't want to tell everybody until at least the first month is over. Can you do that for me? Not tell anybody?"

Ephram sighed deeply then kissed Madison sweetly, "I can." 

Madison squeezed his arm, then the two went back to where everybody else was. They all had a long day so decided to hit the sack not too long afterwards.


	8. tasteful brownies

The next day while Ephram was at school practicing for the performance coming up next week while Madison, Jess and Delia were out shopping for furniture. Mama T was keeping Bright and Andy company. She made them brownies to take back with them to share with everybody when Madison and the other girls pulled into the driveway of the medium blue house. Bright gamboled over to the three girls while Andy brought the pan of brownies back with him. He was eating one when Madison told him to help bring the stuff she bought into the house. He set the brownies down on the porch then went to help, "those brownies are pretty good! I cant…Quite…pin the taste, though…" he said slowly trying to figure out what the exact taste was.

Finally, when all the stuff was brought into the house, everybody, besides Madison, who was too busy rummaging through the kitchen, took a couple brownies and ate them contently. After a while everybody started laughing for no reason. Bright was moving four times slower than he normally did and Jess was sitting on the couch singing while Delia was laughing hysterically. Madison figured they were acting just a bit odd.

The phone rang, it was mama T, "how's everybody liking my brownies?"  
Madison became suspicious, chuckling, "mama T….What'd you put in those brownies?"

"oh dear, just a pound of my best marijuana!" she said innocently.

Even though Madison's jaw dropped, she was amused. She hung up the phone and went outside while everybody stayed in the house acting like five year olds. Not too long afterwards, Ephram came home.   
"Hey you," he said, "where is everybody?" he asked as he climbed the stairs to the porch. All Madison could do was nod her head in the direction of the living room with an amused look still upon her face.

Bright was the human sloth, moving ever so slowly. Delia frolicked over and held out her hand with a brownie in it. Ephram took it, but Madison slapped it out of his hand, still with a slight smile on her face. When Delia picked up the brownie and frolicked away, Ephram was completely confused, "what's going on?" he asked as he followed Bright's strange movements.  
"Mama T made brownies…" She shook her head in amusement, "…_Pot _brownies…" She started to chuckle pointing to Andy, "I've never seen you dad like that. He hasn't been able to keep a thought in his head for more than five seconds! Trying to have a conversation with him is like pulling teeth since he forgets he's talking to you." she pointed to Bright, "and him, he's like the human sloth and if you try to make him walk faster, he falls." Madison put her arm around Ephram's shoulders and pointed to Jess, "She hasn't moved, she's just singing to herself. Delia went near her and she freaked out, started screaming like a 5 year old!"

Mama T strolled into the house, "how's the party?"

Ephram replied, "mama T! You cant do this! Promise me that you wont send any more of your special brownies over when we have company, please!"

Mama T gnawed on her bubble gum before saying, "just for you Ephram, dear, I wont send over any more of my special brownies."

The three of them talked for a little while longer before she left.

Finally everybody was coming down and since most of them were tired, they decided to go upstairs and find their sleeping bags to fall asleep in. Jess stayed on the couch and curled up and fell asleep. Madison pulled on Ephram's arm, "Let me show you what I bought!"

"Oh here we go." he said teasingly.

"We got a computer desk for my office and a really comfortable office chair. Bought two futon beds. A plush, black leather sofa that will be delivered here tomorrow. Two black leather recliners that will be delivered before the end of this week. Oh, and Jess and Delia got me to buy a pool table with all the balls and stuff to go with it. Some indie rock furniture to go in the room with the pool table. Delia showed me the store, Spencers, and they have some fascinating stuff! " she smiled, making a face as if to say 'who'da thunk?'

This time Ephram was the amused one, "glad to see you didn't go overboard."

"come here, you" she replied, pulling him to her to give him a kiss. "I bought some furniture for the upstairs rooms too. I just don't know what we're going to do with the empty room downstairs next to my office."  
"How about a laundry room," replied Ephram, winking, putting his arm around her shoulders as they made their way back to the living room.  
"That is such a great idea!" she laughed, "I've been so excited about buying furniture that I completely forgot about that!"

The two decided to go outside and sit on the porch, arm in arm, since everybody in the house was sleeping. The weather was warm, just a bit breezy.


	9. just a little visit from a fan

The two decided to go outside and sit on the porch, arm in arm, since everybody in the house was sleeping. The weather was warm, just a bit breezy.

"My life is complete," Ephram said as he bumped Madison lightly with his shoulder, "I can die a happy man now."

Madison raised her eyebrows, "you better not die on me anytime soon. I'd be so mad that I'd bring you back to life then kill you myself" then for effect added, "ya jerk."

Ephram's jaw dropped, Madison jumped up and stood in the yard laughing at Ephram's reaction. He stood up and went to chase Madison around the yard, "_Starving Artist_! you jerk's wife!" He grabbed her by the waist and started tickling her, she managed to get him in a headlock. They were wrestling and laughing when Jess came outside and saw the two rolling around on the ground, "you two are so _juvenile!_ People can _see_ you!!"

Ephram stopped rolling around and tickling Madison and sat up, "I think she means the neighbors" and he noticed somebody peering through a window in the opposite house, "people probably think we're beating each other up!" he laughed.

Madison didn't care, she pushed him down again, "I win!"

"Like hell!" replied Ephram as he grabbed her and rolled on top of her, kissing her sweetly as he brushed some hair out of her face, "how about a truce?"

He stood up, pulling Madison up with him as she said, "alright…for now anyway."

The two hugged then made their way to the porch where they sat down again. Jess decided to sit in between them.  
"You're just as bad" replied Madison looking at Jess trying to act serious.

Jess looked Ephram up and down then stopped at his hair, touching it, "you're hair's getting a bit shaggy, don't'cha think?"  
Joking, Madison replied, "Don't tease him. We're planning on growing it passed his ears then spiking it purple."

Jess' face slowly turned into a disgusted expression before realizing that she was kidding.

"Seriously, though," Ephram said, "I do need a haircut, just as bad as Delia needs to wash those blue streaks out of her hair."

Madison pulled on his shirt from behind, pulling him down on the porch, then she leaned over him, "there is nothing wrong with the streaks in your sister's hair." she kissed him sweetly. Then laughed as Jess stood up to get away from the love fest.

"Don't get me wrong," Ephram replied, placing his hands on Madison's waist, "streaks of any color are fine on any head of hair…just not my sister's! I mean, you looked great with the red streaks in your hair last year." he winked, "but you're sexy anyway"  
Madison kissed him again tenderly.

Just then Jacob Lucas and a friend of his came up the walkway, "Hey guys!"

Ephram couldn't help but smile as they sat up. Madison sat up, rubbing his back.

"Hey Jacob Lucas, what are you up to today" she asked

"My friend here didn't believe that I knew you!" he grinned widely, looking from Madison then to his friend who was looking at Madison fondly.

"I know you work for a huge record label, but how come _your _band has only put out one CD?" asked the friend, "you never tour, what's up with that?!"

"Well, touring is too stressful for me" she replied, tilting her head, "my band and I though are making an independent record and it should be out next month ." she raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips into a smile, "…that's not all you wanted to ask me though, is it?"

Jacob Lucas smacked his friend's arm as if to say, 'just do it'. His friend blushed and pulled out a pen and the first CD Madison and her band had made. She gladly signed it for him before the two teenagers left. Jess pretended to collapse on top of Madison, "oh the joy, the joy!" and she raised her hand to her forehead, "autograph my breasts, would you please!" and she laughed as Madison pushed her off of her lap, rolling her eyes. Jess then looked from Madison to the Escalade, "you know, I'm sure you look pretty dern cute when you have your long white coat on and you're just getting out of the Escalade," she said happily as she sat next to her on the porch. Madison laughed, shaking her head.

Ephram replied, as he rubbed Madison's back, "she's cute no matter what."  
"oh you're just too adorable, aren't ya!" Jess replied.


	10. a day in the city

The next night while Ephram and Madison were getting ready for bed, Ephram said, "I'm really about to burst with the whole pregnancy thing..."

Madison shot a look at him, which made him flinch, he was afraid she would hit him so he laughed. She pushed him slightly out of amusement. She thought for a moment, but Ephram looked at her with puppy dog eyes which made Madison slightly smile. She raised her eyebrows, trying to sound convincing, "stop it." then she ended up smiling, "stop it! Fine!" she bit her lip, "fine, we'll tell them, but you do remember that your father and sister will be at your grandparents all day tomorrow?"  
The two lay in bed, Ephram rested on his elbow as he and Madison talked, "looks like we'll just have to show Jess and Bright the sights then, now wont we."

"How about we tell everybody the day before they have to leave?" Madison said, "that way nobody will be able to make a huge fuss out of it." she nodded her head at her good idea as she smiled. Ephram agreed then they made themselves comfortable and fell asleep.

That morning when Ephram and Madison woke up and went downstairs, they found that Andy and Delia had left for the day while Jess and Bright were making themselves breakfast. 

After breakfast they all got ready to go out to stroll around Manhattan. Bright was definitely the tourist; had his handheld video camera in hand and his still camera in its case around his neck and a map in his back pocket. The weather was nice, which made their day out that much better.

"Bright, buddy" said Ephram as they were walking, "do you realize how much of a tourist you look like?"

Bright sort of looked puzzled, "but I am a tourist? Plus, you have to realize I've never been out of Colorado."

"_Dude_!!" embellished Jess, "we should check out the building you work at Maddi!"

"Well, we may have time." said Bright looking at his list, "but first we have to go to Central park! I mean, The Fisher King with Robin Williams was shot there!"  
"Wasn't he naked in that movie?" asked Ephram

"yeah" said Bright in a tone of voice that seemed to say, 'duh, everybody knows that', "then we'll have to go to Chinatown! Oh my god, and Time's Square!"

Madison replied, "you do know that you have three more days here and that we don't have to do everything in one day?"

Looking up from his list, "oh I know, but not all the things I want to do are in Manhattan. Brooklyn isn't too far from here, right?" his eyes beamed happily, "Just to say I've been there is good enough for me!"

"We can manage that" said Ephram, smiling at his friend.

After a few hours of walking around, they went to Central park with the sandwiches they bought from Subway and found a good spot to rest and hang out. Bright couldn't be happier.

By the time they got home, Bright had many bags full of souvenirs, something for each of his family members. Jess just took photos with Bright's camera since he was too busy filming everything with his video camera.   
Delia and Andy weren't home yet so Ephram and Madison decided to go ahead and make dinner without them, thinking that they'd be home shortly or would call if they were going to be too much later.


	11. loster than lost

Delia and Andy weren't home yet so Ephram and Madison decided to go ahead and make dinner without them, thinking that they'd be home shortly or would call if they were going to be too much later.

Around 9:30, Ephram got a call on his cell phone from his dad, he could hear Delia in the background trying to muffle her laughter. 

"Dad, where are you guys?!" asked Ephram concerned.

"that's just it, son, we don't know!"

Suddenly Delia was on the phone, she had grabbed it from her dad, "dad doesn't like asking for directions, so we are loster than lost! He wouldn't even get directions from Nonny, and we got lost on our way there!"

Suddenly Andy was back on the phone, he grabbed it away from Delia, "Most things are closed now so its not like I can stop and ask for directions."

Ephram put his hand over the phone and spoke to Madison, "dad's lost…" he shook his head and tried not to smile, "to think, he used to live here for most of his life, and now he's lost. Figures, put him in a small town for a few years and things are ass backwards for him once he goes back to the city." He handed the phone to Madison

"Andy, its Madison. Do you have any idea of where you are?"  
Andy looked around, he had parked the car in an empty parking lot, "I don't see anything, except a bum with a shopping cart full of boxes…" Delia locked the door and sunk into her seat, she wasn't much amused anymore, besides, this was New York, and you never know, bums could have guns. 

"Look up at the skyline, Andy, do you see any bright lights?"

Andy looked up, "you know, it's a good thing there aren't many trees around here, because if it was anything like Everwood, you wouldn't be able to see a thing! Yeah, I see some lights."  
"Drive towards the lights, it will lead you into the city. Once you get into the city then you should be able to get back to our house."

"Thanks, Madison! You're a life saver."  
Suddenly Delia was on the phone, she grabbed it from her dad, "if we don't call you back or see you in an hour, we're probably _dead._"

The two hung up and Andy headed towards the lights. Madison hung up, "your dad is definitely a small town guy. For a neurosurgeon, and have lived here in the past, you'd think he'd have figured out that looking up at the skyline would bring him back to the city."

Bright laughed, "why do you think we flew here? At first he was thinking of driving, each of us taking turns, but he could barely read the map!"

"That's my dad for you" replied Ephram as everybody made their way into the living room to watch some TV, "he's actually quite blonde on the inside."

Madison pushed him playfully, "excuse me!?!"

Ephram realized what he said, then realized that Madison and Bright were both blonde, "sorry! That came out wrong!"  
"Yeah," replied Bright throwing Ephram on the couch and jumping on him, "just as wrong as this will come out" and he threw a pillow at him. Jess joined in the festivities, throwing pillows at everybody as Madison joined in, "you better be glad we don't have any breakable objects!"

Ephram grabbed her and pulled her on top of him and the two fell to the floor, all the while laughing. After a while they got back to watching TV, then about 20 minutes later, the doorbell rang. Ephram got up to answer it and when he opened the door, a police officer was standing there, "Hi, Ephram Brown? Is your Father Dr. Andy Brown? Sister, Delia Brown?"  
Ephram's face turned from a smile to panic stricken, "what's wrong!?"  
"Well…"


	12. what can I say

(A/N: sorry for the lack of chapters lately, I had midterms to study for! But I'm back now and will be posting more than I have been in the past week! Keep doin' what yer doin' folk, it means a lot!)

~~20 minutes later, the doorbell rang. Ephram got up to answer it and when he opened the door, a police officer was standing there, "Hi, Ephram Brown? Is your Father Dr. Andy Brown? Sister, Delia Brown?"  
Ephram's face turned from a smile to panic stricken, "what's wrong!?"  
"Well…"~~~

Just then, Delia threw herself on top of Ephram, making him fall backwards, "We tried calling you but the line was busy! I hate New York! I hate big cities! I hate Dad's driving!"  
Andy walked into the house, "We ended up finding a nice police officer and asked him if he wouldn't mind escorting us back to your house." He smiled, "Delia was tired of driving in circles and seeing the same people standing on the same corner."  
Delia pulled Ephram up off the floor, "I think Dad's unstable…" she said trying to sound convincing as she nodded her head. She started impersonating her father, " 'oh no sweetheart, we're going the right way.' _YEAH_! That's why we saw the same drug dealer about three times!" 

The police officer left then everybody gathered around and told everybody else how their day went. Delia laughed, "Nonny almost died when she took the hat off my head and saw the blue streaks! I told her my next idea is to get my nose pierced."  
Ephram tilted his head and looked at his dad who was smiling from amusement. Delia noticed it then replied, "Just kidding!" She went over and sat on Madison's lap as everybody else laughed as Delia kept messing with Ephram.

"This would be a perfect time to tell 'em." Madison said as she looked at Ephram.

"Be my guest." he said he a smile formed on his face.

Delia looked around, "tell us what? You two joined the mob?"

Jess pretended to cry, "you're getting a divorce!"

"Shut up!" replied Madison playfully, "here, sweetie, get up." she said to Delia as she made her way to stand up to look at everybody. Ephram made his way over to her, putting an arm around her waist as she bit her lip.

"Well, tell us" replied Andy as a smile formed on his face, "the anticipation is killing me."

Madison grinned, "Ephram and I are getting a dog."  
Ephram looked at her as if she had two heads, "what?! What _are you talking _about?!"

Delia couldn't help but laugh as the two got back on the same page.

Madison laughed, patting his arm as she gave him an amused look, although still very calm and collected, "I'm just kidding sweetie, relax, it's what some people call a joke."

Delia slapped her knee, she didn't know why seeing the two of them sort of arguing, Madison amused and Ephram completely confused, was funny to her, but it was, which in turn made Madison end up laughing lightheartedly because she didn't get why Delia was laughing so hard. Bright started chuckling, "get on with it! Lets goooo!"

Madison regained her composure and pointed at Delia to knock it off. "Okay…Ephram wanted to tell you sooner, but I didn't want to tell you at all, actually-"  
"Get on with it already!" replied Jess as she threw herself into a laying position on the floor, pushing Delia's feet out of the way.

"I found out three weeks ago…We're pregnant!"

Everybody was talking at once, they were all so happy and tried talking over each other to congratulate the two. Jess yelled out, "That's so groovy!" and hugged her happily.

Just then Delia said, "you mean, you're going to have little Ephrams running around? Why would anybody want that?!"

Ephram threw a pillow at her, "shut up, Dee!"

She started laughing as she caught it, "little Madisons are fine, but little Ephrams?!? I mean, who _does _that?!"

Ephram smirked, "you're such the teenager, I think seeing you twice a year is enough. I couldn't handle living with you year round."

After a couple more hours of everybody being so happy and congratulating Ephram and Madison, they all decided it was time for bed. Ephram had class tomorrow, and he would probably be in the music room for awhile afterwards since his performance was a few days away; the day after everybody leaves. He promised Bright that they would take him to Brooklyn after he got home, which would probably be a little after 3:30pm. Madison took the week off from work and figured they would go to a movie.

While getting ready for bed, Madison reading, Ephram just getting under the covers, he said, "Now I know why you didn't want to tell everybody until the day before they leave. The energy drained me!"  
"You? I'm the one they were falling all over. Do you realize Jess is going to go shopping tomorrow to buy baby stuff…" 

Ephram smirked and kissed Madison sweetly before turning out the light, "I love you."  
Madison touched his face, "I love you. Night, Eph." and she kissed him before making herself comfortable in the bed, placing her hand on his chest as he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead before they drifted off to sleep.


	13. wrong place, wrong time

The next day after Ephram's classes, he went to the music room and started practicing. One of his fellow classmates, who was also in the symphony asked, "Brown, ready for the big day in three days?!"  
"Yeah, sort of."

"Not to psyche you out or anything, but this performance pretty much determines the rest of our lives." he chuckled.

Ephram looked at him, "How so?"  
"Bro, I don't plan on working for the Mandolin Symphony for the rest of my life. I plan on going down to Florida and work my shit there. One of the orchestras down there said they will hire me when I graduate."

"Why move all the way down there?" asked Ephram curiously, "when you already have a job that pays so well?"  
"The beach, maaan!"

Ephram decided not to reply and just got back to practicing. All the notes were smooth, he never missed a beat. He's practiced so much that its as if the music was apart of him, "hopefully" he thought to himself, "I play this well when the time comes…"

Around 3:15pm he pulled into the driveway of the house. He noticed Quinn and Skylar were visiting and hoped that Delia wasn't being too much of a brat. He smiled at the thought as he took his sunglasses off as he entered the house. There was noise coming from the living room so he made his way there. Delia and Bright were trying to sing karaoke as Quinn played her violin and Madison was at the keyboards. Skylar was beat boxing, all the while Andy was trying to muffle his laughter since Delia and Bright couldn't carry the same tune or sing at the same time. Madison smiled at Ephram as he sat down next to his father who whispered in between laughing fits, "your neighbors are quite the characters! Skylar and Delia get along so well, you'd think they were related!"

After a few more minutes of jamming, Quinn and Skylar decided it was time to leave. They chatted with Ephram for a little bit before heading out, "too bad you weren't here, Ephram. Madison only knows how to play a couple songs on the keyboard, not much else, so listening to Bright and Dee sing…or, yell rather, the same songs over and over kept getting even more funny. Take care" said Skylar as he slapped Ephram's hand before he left.

Around 3:30pm, Bright reminded everybody it was time to head into Brooklyn. Andy couldn't go, he had to make some phone calls. Jess decided not to go, she was too exhausted from the passed few days' events, so it was just Ephram and Madison and Delia and Bright who were off to see the sights in Brooklyn. Before they left, Andy jokingly said, "Get lost for me!"

Delia wasn't amused, "funny dad…not!"

They decided to take the Escalade into the city, Madison drove since she knew that part of area better than Ephram. Delia decided to ride up front since Bright wanted to play a card game with Ephram in the spacious backseat. "Dude," he said as they started playing, "you guys are definitely living the life! I mean, if you ever end up losing your jobs and then losing the house, you could always live in his vehicle! Little mounted TV" he pointed to the ceiling where the little TV was mounted, "and a frikken DVD player!"  
Delia laughed, "they even have OnStar!" she picked up the phone, "can we call them and just start talking to em?" she grinned as she looked around at everybody. 

"I don't think so" replied Ephram as he leaned forward to grab the phone out of her hand.

"So Dee," he started, "Madison and I are thinking of selling the protégé, want us to sell it to ya?"  
She looked at him as if he were crazy, "why would I want a vehicle that is 10 years old?"

Ephram shook his head and chuckled, rolling his eyes, "Its four years old."

Delia turned towards him in her seat and gave him the 'A-OK' sign with her fingers and mouthed the word "sure" in a 'I-don't-believe-you' sort of gesture.

Finally they got there and parked in one of the parking garages and got out to roam the city. Bright didn't have all the gear he had when they were in Manhattan, just his video camera and the map in his back pocket. Madison said, "It's good you have the map, Bright, since I don't know this area too well. More so than Eph, but not much more." 

"Dude…" he said, "two words…Brooklyn Zoo."  
Delia laughed, which made Bright look at her strangely, tilting his head, "what are you on?" he asked.

"Nothing! It just reminded me of Ol' Dirty Bastard's song, _Brooklyn Zoo_"

Ephram slightly smiled as he looked at Madison who looked back at him with an amused look upon her face. He couldn't help but move closer towards her and put his arm around her waist as they walked behind the other two and whispered little jokes in her ear.

They got to the zoo and walked around for a couple hours since the zoo closed around 6pm. There was a sea lion show going on, which the four decided to watch for a while.

Bright suggested that they all go eat dinner at this restaurant he had heard about which wasn't too far from the zoo. As they walked, Bright noticed a rather interesting building with a sort of carport outside a door. The front door had a little stretched out canopy. He said, "What is that? That's a rather cool lookin' hotel!"  
They got closer then Ephram laughed, "it's a funeral home, Bright!" 

They got to the restaurant, and as they all ate, Bright kept ordering drinks from the menu because, as he said, "the pictures look so good!" He looked up from the menu, "plus I'm not driving, so its all good."

After dinner everybody decided it was time to head back to the vehicle. Delia decided to read the map but forgot to mention that map-reading wasn't her skill. 10 minutes later when they started to notice a poor section of town, Madison looked around, "we shouldn't be going this way. This doesn't feel right…" she took the map from Delia, and abruptly stopped walking, "Delia!" she yelled, "You've been reading the map upside down!"

Bright, who was sort of tipsy, couldn't help but chuckle, which made Ephram hit him in the arm.

The sun was starting to set as they started walking a little bit more briskly in the opposite direction. Somebody started following them not too long afterwards, "We really should get a move on." replied Madison as she noticed the person following them, "This so does not feel right…at all…" She decided to call the police and give them their location, and as she hung up, they were passing an alleyway and the guy ran up to them and grabbed Delia and dragged her into the alley with his hand over her mouth. The other three quickly ran after them. The guy had a gun, "give me all your money or the girl gets it."


	14. terror in the city

…the guy ran up to them and grabbed Delia and dragged her into the alley with his hand over her mouth. The guy had a gun, "give me all your money or the girl gets it."…….

Bright, still tipsy, couldn't help but chuckle as Madison and Ephram were panic stricken.

Ephram sort of stepped forward, "Let her go, maan!" he said through gritted teeth, he wasn't about to give this guy money, but he wasn't about to let Delia get shot either. The gun was then pointed at him, which made Ephram step backwards as he put up a hand and looked at the ground, there was nothing he could do, it was as if his body was consumed with fright. He seemed to be motioning to Delia with a slight movement of his hand.

Madison spoke up, which made the guy start yelling as he pointed the gun at her, all the while Bright muffling his laughter with a hand over his face as he stood behind everybody, there was just so much commotion, everybody yelling amongst each other!

"Don't point that at her!" Yelled Ephram as he looked up. He lowered his eyebrows, "Dee! Now!" and just then Delia kicked the guy in the knee, which startled him, making him shoot the gun, which made Madison and Bright scream, which then made Ephram jump out of his terror and he tackled the guy for the gun and pulled the guy to the ground, all the while Delia yelling at him and kicking him as Ephram put his knee against the guys neck so he couldn't get up, "Don't _ever_ point your gun at my wife! Don't _ever_--"  
The man yelled, "I only had one bullet, just one! Don't hurt me!" his voice now stricken with fear. Just then a cop car pulled up because he had heard the fire of the gunshot. "We got it from here, thanks" he said as he handcuffed the guy who was still on the ground. Ephram looked at Madison, his face filled with worry as he grabbed her and embraced her in a hug, not wanting to let go.

The cop called for somebody to take the four back to their vehicle so they could go home.

When they got home around 9pm, Andy and Jess were waiting for them so they could hear about the days evens. Bright, still tipsy, saw them and joyfully said, "we almost got mugged! It was so cool!"

Andy shot up and wanted to know what happened. He was concerned.

Delia softly said as she made her way to the couch, "Ephram and I remembered the time you taught us how to stop somebody from mugging us…I was so scared…" she said shaking her head as she lay on the couch.

Andy looked around then told Madison, Jess and Bright the story, "see, when we lived here before, Julia had a friend of hers teach the kids ways to stop a mugging. They were so young…" he paused, "I cant believe they remembered any of it…"

Ephram was sitting in a chair next to Madison, but he had his hand on his chin looking at the wall. It was as if he were thinking of something. He came too, "I froze…when the guy pointed the gun at me it was like, everything in my head went blank…but…" he sighed and Madison rubbed his back to comfort him, "but…when the guy started yelling and point the gun at Madison, everything I was taught came back to me…I couldn't let him get away with any of this…"

Bright lightened the mood, "the guy started crying like a baby when Delia started kicking him! It was great!" he laughed at himself which made everybody lighten up.

"Well," Ephram said as he stood up, "I'm off to bed. See you in the morning."

After he was out of hearing distance, Andy looked at Madison, "You should go talk to him, I think he will need somebody to talk to."

Madison stood up, then hugged Delia goodnight before she left, "night guys!"

Ephram was in the bathroom finishing up brushing his teeth as Madison stood outside the doorway leaning against the door post. After Ephram wiped his face he turned around and saw Madison there, looking at him with a comforting sort of smile. All he could do was embrace her in a hug. She rubbed his back and whispered, "what are you thinking about?"

Ephram sighed, "I worry too much…I was so afraid…not for myself, but for the rest of you, mainly you and Delia…I don't know what I would have done if anything happened to either of you…When the gun went off, I thought that somebody got it…"  
She pulled away and looked into his eyes with a reassuring look, "It's okay, Eph. It's over, we're safe now."

Ephram shook his head and looked up at the ceiling, "geeze, I hate feeling this way."  
"Look at me" replied Madison as she pulled on his chin to get him to look at her, "we learned something from this and it wont happen again." She bit her lip, "think happy thoughts."

Ephram half smiled, "you _are_ my happy thoughts…I'm just so afraid of losing you and just the thought that I put you in danger kills me." he said softly.

Madison pulled him back into a warm embrace and rubbed his back, comforting him.


	15. awe inspiring

(A/N: sorry for the lack of Ephison moments, (they are my favorites too), no worries, there are going to be a few after the next couple chapters! Oh yes, and for those of you who may be wondering; I have no intention of ending this fic anytime soon, there's just so much I can do with it! Thanks for the reviews everybody, they mean a lot!!)

The next day, everybody decided to hang around the house since they would have to leave early tomorrow morning. Ephram decided to head to Julliard to practice a while, plus one of his professors wanted to talk to him about an upcoming concert.

He knocked on his professor's door and heard, "Come in!"

Ephram opened the door and smiled at his professor, "you wanted to talk to me?"

His professor beamed a smile and waved at Ephram to enter, "Ephram Brown, I want you to meet Yanni! Yanni, this is Ephram Brown, an aspiring pianist."

Yanni smiled, "more like awe inspiring, I've heard his stuff."

Ephram was shocked with amazement because Yanni was one of his all time favorite composers, and could play a mean piano, or two keyboards at once!

"It's such a pleasure to meet you" he managed to squeak out.

Yanni smiled and shook Ephram's hand, "Lets get straight to the point" he said with his Greek accent, "my keyboardist, Ming Freeman, is out sick with the flu and I need somebody to fill his place for tonight's concert."  
Ephram couldn't help but look from Yanni to his professor back to Yanni again, he was able to speak no words and just listened.

"People have told me about you, Ephram. I have a proposal…" he paused and smiled, "would you mind taking Ming's place tonight?"  
Ephram's eyes became wide, but yet could still not speak.

Yanni chuckled and brushed his shoulder length hair out of his face, "Since it is such short notice, I am willing to pay you what Ming gets paid each performance" and he handed Ephram a check, which almost made him choke, he coughed instead as he looked at the four zeros behind the number 8. Ephram couldn't believe this, this was normally a year's worth of salary for him. Yanni continued, his Greek accent sort of thick, "and as I am sure you might have had plans tonight, I am willing to give you several tickets to the concert for your family and friends."  
All Ephram could say was, "why me?"

Yanni looked at his professor and the two chuckled, "I have heard you play, and I know you can do this. Will you help me out tonight?"

Again, Ephram was speechless, all he could do was nod his head and shake Yanni's hand.

"Great, see you tonight around 6pm, the concert starts at 7pm. Oh, and here is the sheet music you will be playing." And he handed him the sheet music along with the booklet of which songs he would be performing in and several tickets for the show.

Ephram went straight home to share the great news. When he arrived, Madison greeted him with a sweet kiss, "that was fast." then she noticed he was in sort of a daze, "why do you look as though you're about to pass out."  
All Ephram could do was smile and hold up the check for Madison to see. She was sort of confused, even more so when he handed her several concert tickets to tonight's concert featuring Yanni and his orchestra.

"Okay, now…I'm completely confused? Eph, what's going on?" she asked as she squinted her eyes at him.

He thought a moment to collect his thoughts, "Yanni came to campus today…." he spoke slowly, still not sure if he was dreaming or not, "his um…uh, his keyboardist Ming Freeman is out sick, and…" he paused trying to keep his composure. All he really wanted to do was grab Madison and swing her around the room and share this festive moment. He continued as he closed his eyes, "Yanni is paying me this much" as he held up the check once again, "to play in his orchestra tonight."

Madison smiled and covered her mouth with her hand as she raised her eyebrows as he continued further, "he also gave me several tickets to the show to give to family and friends!" he opened his eyes and noticed Madison's expression, which made Ephram forget everything and just pick her up and swing her around as he laughed happily.

Everybody else heard the ruckus and decided to make their way to where the other two were. As Ephram put her down, all he said to them was "We're going to a concert tonight at 7pm, and here are the tickets!" he handed the tickets to Andy and smiled before walking passed them to go practice on his keyboard, "I have to practice!"

So Ephram could have some practice time, everybody else decided to go downstairs to watch TV and play pool.

Jess looked over the tickets, "did anybody notice that there are six tickets here?! That Yanni character must be pretty good if he's giving away this many tickets!"

Madison thought for a moment as she leaned on the pool stick, "…you know…I think we should give Quinn a call, she's not doing anything tonight. Skylar is working 'til 10pm, she'd probably love to go!" After she hit a few balls in different pockets, she decided to go into the other room to call Quinn to see what she was doing. 

A few minutes later Madison came back, "Quinn would be glad to come with us!"

Delia flipped through the channels as she spoke, "So this should be a really cool time then, nothing too boring?"  
"No, nothing too boring" replied Madison as she shot at the cue ball.

Around 5:30pm, Ephram told everybody that he had to be there early so he would have to take a separate vehicle. He was getting nervous, and Madison could tell, "you'll do great, Eph!" and kissed him sweetly before he left, "we'll see you there!"

Everybody eventually made their way to the concert which started at 7pm. Quinn was excited because she knew that sometimes in Yanni's performances, he would have two violinists from his orchestra 'duel' it out, which was just an amazing thing to witness.

After every other song, Yanni introduced people from his orchestra, "Ming has been sick for the passed few days and I'm sure many of you have been wondering who this amazing keyboardist is. Say hello to Ephram Brown, he's from right here in your very own state, New York!" the crowd erupted into applause, it was deafening. Delia jumped up and applauded as well, "That's my brother!" She sat back down and yelled over the applause to Madison, "this is awesome! I never realized orchestra music could be so cool!"

Madison put her arm around Delia and chuckled at the way she said it.


	16. saying goodbye

The concert ended around 10pm, but Madison knew that Ephram would have to stay with the rest of the orchestra for a little while longer so she decided to take everybody else home instead of wait around since four of them had to catch a plane around 9am the next morning. Delia was excited, "Did you see that?! I've never seen somebody, not even Ephram, play two keyboards at once!"  
Quinn was also excited, "The duel between the two violins was the greatest part, I could never imagine being that good! Its mind blowing, there's nothing like it!"

Everybody talked about the concert all the way home, Andy said, "I knew Ephram was good, but I never actually knew the full extent until tonight. That solo he did was brilliant, never thought he could pull anything like that off!"

Ephram got home around 11:30pm, everybody else asleep, Madison in their bed reading a good book. He got ready for bed then climbed in next to her, giving her a sweet kiss that seemed to linger. Her hair waving in the breeze from the open window, she half smiled then kissed him passionately. After they pulled away, the two talked about the concert for a little while before going to bed. Ephram whispered, "I love you, with every ounce of my soul"

"I know" whispered Madison back as she touched his face. The two fell asleep in each other's arms, holding each other.

Delia woke up a little before 7am and got ready, packed her things and set the bag near the door before deciding to wake everybody else up. She woke up Jess, then the two woke up Bright then proceeded to wake up Andy by pulling the covers off of him and pulling him out of bed by his feet. All the commotion and laughter woke up Ephram and Madison and they realized that they had to take the four back to the airport in less than 20 minutes. The flight leaves at 9am, but they have to arrive at least an hour and a half early. The remaining slowpokes got ready in 20 minutes and were out the door less than 10 minutes later, all the while Madison saying, "Jess, got everything? Delia, didn't forget anything did you? Bright, got all your gifts and everything else? Andy, are you all ready to go? Is everybody ready to go? Nobody forgot anything did they, because once we leave we cant come back."  
"Relax, Madison!" replied Delia not too concerned, "besides, if we did then you can just mail it back to us."

Ephram looked at his dad, then to his sister then to Jess and Bright, "It was fun having you guys here, we're glad you came!"

"Not like you woulda had a choice in that matter" replied Delia, "we were coming whether you wanted us to or not." she laughed, "but, it was fun and I'm going to miss you guys as soon as I get back on that plane cuz I know I wont be seeing you for at least six months or so!"

"Don't start crying, Delia" warned Madison as she looked in the mirror at her, "or else you'll end up making me cry!"

Jess chimed in, "well, all this talk about crying is going to make me cry!"  
Finally they got to the airport and before the four entered through the gates, they said their goodbyes, "I told you not to cry!" Madison said alarmed as she saw Delia tear up as they hugged goodbye.

"Its not like I can help it!" she said, trying to muffle her cries in her sleeve. Just then Jess started crying as she hugged Madison goodbye, "Ephram, take care of my girl for me!"

"I'm trying to keep my composure" sniffed Madison, "but you two aren't making it any easier! I love you guys and we'll see you sooner than you think!"

Bright hugged Ephram goodbye, then everybody else hugged everybody else before going through the gates. Before Jess left, she wiped a tear away from Madison's face, "take care of yourself…"

Madison gritted her teeth and tried to hold back the tears as she blinked several times with her head tilted as she leaned against Ephram who was standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her and his chin on her shoulder. The two hung around until the plane left the gate, then Ephram whispered, "how you doin?". Madison turned around, still in his arms and tried to smile, "sad, but it was good to see them." He pursed his lips and looked into her eyes, "lets go home…" Madison wiped a tear from her face and nodded her head. The two walked arm in arm back to the car, all the while Ephram whispering sweet nothings into her ear to cheer her up.


	17. much needed alone time

By the time they got home, Madison was mostly cheered up, she just missed them, that's all, and Ephram understood that. As they got out of the vehicle to walk inside the house, Jacob Lucas came running up to them, yelling happily, "I got my license! I got my license! Dad says that you guys are selling the protégé, is that true?!" 

Madison smiled, "yeah," she looked at Ephram then back to Jacob Lucas. He asked, "how much are you selling it for?" he asked hopefully but with a little hint of I-cant-afford-much-since-I-just-turned-16 in his voice.

Madison replied, "actually…we're not sure, Jacob Lucas…but, for you…" she thought for a moment then smiled, "we'll sell it to you for a dollar."

Jacob Lucas' jaw dropped, "seriously!?!?"

Ephram ruffled Jacob Lucas' hair, "of course we are, Jake!"  
He jumped up excitedly, "I'll get it to you tomorrow, thanks so much guys!" and he turned around and ran home as fast as he had run over.

"that was nice" replied Ephram to Madison. The two walked up the steps and into the house. Madison said, "I haven't paid too much attention to a few things lately!" and she started cleaning up when Ephram grabbed her hand and pulled her close, "there's something I haven't paid too much attention to during the last week…."

Even though Madison had an idea, she replied, "what's that?" and Ephram simply said, "you" as he put his forehead against hers. He touched her face tenderly, traced her lips with his fingers before kissing her softly. Madison deepened the kiss as she teased Ephram by lifting up his shirt and softly touching his stomach, making him shiver. They were close to the wall and Ephram managed to pin her against it, making her moan as he pressed his body to hers. He placed one leg in between both of her legs so he could be even closer to her. Madison couldn't help but kiss him passionately as she undid his belt. She broke away then slowly made her way up the stairs to the bedroom and pulled Ephram with her by his belt strap. They kissed each other intensely as they got out of their clothes and fell onto the bed throwing the covers over them.

Lifting up Madison's tank top, he kissed her stomach softly, teasing her. His hand on Madison's knee, slowly making its way up her thigh, then to the outside of her thigh and up her hip to her waist where he then snaked his arm around her waist as he slipped on top of her and kissed her eagerly, muffling her moans. He slipped his tongue into her mouth. Madison broke the kiss and breathlessly whispered, "I want you Eph--" and with that, Ephram kissed her passionately as he slid himself inside her, making her gasp in ecstasy. 

Sweat glistening off the two hot bodies as they move together as one. This was so right, the two together, finally sharing a moment they hadn't for a while beforehand. 

The two were spent, and as they lay together in the bed, Ephram breathlessly whispered, smiling, "we should lock the door and stay in here all day"  
Madison leaned in and whispered, "and all night". She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him sweetly. They talked a little while longer before making love again.

The next day was a Sunday and the only thing the two had planned was selling the car to Jacob Lucas, then they would just go back to bed and cuddle the rest of the day.

"I cant help but kiss you" Ephram said as the two were making lunch, all the while he kept stealing kisses from her.

Madison stopped what she was doing and looked up, "Delia said we should name the baby after her."

"little egocentric child she is, I don't think so" smiled Ephram jokingly, "She also said we should name the child Atilla." 

"After…Atilla the hun?!" replied Madison surprised, "what is wrong with that sister of yours!" she shook her head and smiled. Ephram was on the opposite side of the bar from Madison and leaned forward on his arms to get closer to her as they spoke, "Jess I think had the best idea.." he said, which made Madison look at him curiously. He continued, "she said that we should tell the doctor not to tell us what the sex of the baby is so we'll be surprised in the end. So, with saying that, she mentioned that having a unisex name would be best."

"You know, that is a good idea!" replied Madison happily before going back to what she was doing on the bar. 

The two talked about baby names for a little while longer before going downstairs to play some pool. The game itself, however, didn't last long because Ephram decided he would much rather kiss Madison instead. At one point, when she was about to shoot at the cue ball, Ephram held the stick so she couldn't shoot, and when she whirled around, he let go of the stick and the other end smacked him in on the side of his head, making Madison laugh out loud even though she didn't meant to. Ephram was rubbing his head profusely where he got hit to try to ease the pain. Madison dropped the stick and threw her arms around Ephram as she continued to laugh, "I'd say you deserved that, but I just cant have you in pain, not at my expense anyway!"  
"What are you talking about!" shrieked Ephram, still in pain.  
Madison took Ephram's hand away from his head and she lightly kissed the bruised area, made her way down to his ear where she nibbled on it then proceeded to kiss his face before lightly kissing his lips, "feel better?"  
Ephram looked at her, "you're going to have to do a lot better than that! You hit me in the head!"

Madison then took on a British accent and recited words from the movie, _A Knight's Tale,_ "I'm afraid this pain is all my doing…" Ephram looked at her strangely as she continued, trying not to laugh, "this good you speak of…it will be my doing as well." and she grabbed his head and pulled him to her and kissed him passionately. Ephram picked her up and sat her on the pool table. They looked at each mischiefiously, then proceeded to kiss each other again passionately. Ephram slid himself on top of Madison as he undid her belt, she moaning with satisfaction, kissing him still.

After their little romp on the pool table, the two decided to head upstairs for more alone time. They figured it has been a week since they have had their alone time and they were going to make the most of it.

(A/N; I have to postpone writing for the next few days because my computer *sniff* is going in for repair *single tear* so I wont be able to post for a few days. Hopefully though, when I get my computer back then I will be able to start posting chapters for my new fic as well! And of course, this fic here will still be up and running! Thanks guys, your reviews mean a lot!!)  



	18. this little piggy

(A/N; thanks everybody for sticking with me, it was a huge ordeal with my computer, I'm just glad I have it back! Probably after the next couple chapters for this fic I will speed it up ahead to a few months later where Madison is actually showing. Then after that, skip a few more months and maybe she'll have the baby! YEA! Anyway, thanks again for sticking with me)

The next day, Madison dropped Ephram off at school before she headed to work since they sold the protégé to their neighbor a few days before. For the passed month or so Ephram had been looking at the new Nissan Altima with the GPS system. Madison figured now would be the perfect time to purchase the vehicle and to surprise Ephram at the same time so she called up a friend of hers at the dealership during lunch and asked him if he could somehow get the car to their house before either of them got home that night around 6pm. With the connections that her friend has, everything was set up and the car would be there later. The only two colors on the lot however, were red and silver, and Madison figured they would just stick with silver since it has worked for them in the past.

"It must be so nice to have connections like that" a co-worker of hers said after lunch.

Madison drank her coffee, "definitely makes things a lot easier." she looked over her paperwork, "so, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, not much really, mostly tomorrow. I think Jack said we might have to stay late tomorrow night."  
Shaking her head, Madison replied, "I cant stay late tomorrow, Ephram is putting on a symphony and I want to be there. Starts at 3:30pm I think and there is no way I'm missing it. I work 'til three tomorrow and I'm not staying late" she smiled and got back to work as her co-worker shut her office door on her way out.

10 minutes later, her boss, Jack, huffed his way through Madison's office door, "What are you saying, Madison?! We need this, you have to stay late!"

Calmly, Madison looked up from her work, "Jack, you already know what I'm going to say, so I don't see why you came in here. You don't need my help every time we get new clients. Besides, I'm already staying late tonight and the next few nights."

"But the band…" he spoke on deaf ears, then sighed, "you're right, you're right…You just do so much for us and are one of the main reasons most of these bands sign with us." he turned to leave then said, "Tell Ephram good luck for me." and shut the door behind him. Madison couldn't help but smile.

Around 6:00pm, Madison picked Ephram up from school and the two talked about their day and how things had gone. Again, Madison couldn't help but smile, and the whole ride home had her hand on the back of Ephram's neck. He was oblivious though as to what would be waiting for him when they pulled into the driveway. "Why are you smiling ear to ear for?" he asked.

"You'll just have to see, sweetie" she said as she bit her bottom lip.

Not too long afterwards they pulled into the driveway and Ephram noticed there was a car parked in the driveway. He says, "are we expecting anybody? I don't…recognize the car…" he said slowly as the two got out of the Escalade. Madison excitedly skipped over to Ephram and put her arm around his shoulder, "surprise" and dropped the car key into his hand. He then realized that this was their new car and he couldn't help but run up to it and glide his hand all over it. He opened the driver's side door, mouth open in astonishment, and noticed the GPS system which welcomed him when he put the key into the ignition and started the car. Madison couldn't help but smile since she knew this is what he has wanted for a long time but never wanted to get since he liked to hold onto his money. He's thrifty, if you will. She made her way over to the opened car door and folded her arms and tilted her head, looking at Ephram. He turned off the car and just sat there with his hands on the steering wheel. He then turned his head towards Madison, "Let's take it for a spin!" and gestured for her to hop in the passenger side. He opened his mouth wide out of excitement and raised his eyebrows happily. As Madison got in on the passenger side door, she leaned over and touched Ephram's face, kissing him sweetly, "love you…"

Ephram mouthed, "love you more" as he started the car again and backed out of the driveway. Not too long afterwards he asked, "when'd you have the time to do this?"

"I have connections." she replied shrugging her shoulders and shutting her eyes as she stuck out her tongue.

As they were driving along, they noticed a sign that read '**free pups, take your pick'** and Madison urged Ephram to pull over so they could check out the puppies. He did so, and the two got out of the car and made their way to where the person giving away the animals were. As they got closer, Ephram whispered, "Madison...I dont think....these are puppies..." just as he finished his sentence, the lady seemed delighted to see the two, "Welcome, welcome! Just in time, we have only a few baby piggies left!" 

Madison couldnt help but chuckle, and noticed a black pig wandering around her feet. She couldnt help but pick it up and cuddle it. Ephram whispered, "we _cant_ have a _pig!_ Are you nuts!" Madison then, talking in a baby voice, brought the baby pig to Ephram's face, "this could be our first baby, what'cha think?"

Ephram rubbed his face, "I dont think I have a choice in the matter, do I?"

Madison grinned, "how can you not love a face like this." Madison was definitely taken with the little black pig and asked the lady several questions, one including, "how big is wittle Sammy supposed to get?" she asked playing with the curious pig. The lady replied, "not too big. Probably say about 45 pounds, which is small compared to most pigs. "We'll take him" cried Madison. The lady grinned and said, "pigs are pretty independent but are also pretty affectionate as well."  
"Kinda like a cat? Just bigger...and less hairy" replied Ephram, still in shock that Madison is actually getting a pig! Before they left, the lady gave them some food for the pig and told them what to feed him and what not to feed him.


	19. what's in a name

The lady grinned and said, "pigs are pretty independent but are also pretty affectionate as well."  
"Kinda like a cat? Just bigger...and less hairy" replied Ephram, still in shock that Madison is actually getting a pig! Before they left, the lady gave them some food for the pig and told them what to feed him and what not to feed him.

Finally the two got back in the car with their newly found friend and headed home. Ephram asked, "so where is 'wittle' Sammy going to sleep?" although he already knew the answer. Madison looked at him, "in our room of course! We'll make a bed for him and everything. Oh cheer up, Sweetie, you know you love him!"

The next day was Ephram's big day; the symphony that would determine whether he graduates or not. He wasnt too nervous, though, since he's done things like this before. The only difference was, he wasnt the one writing the piece. The concert started at 3:30pm and Madison was able to get off work like she had planned. She called up Skylar to see if he could check on Sammy for a little bit before she and Ephram got home. He was a tattoo artist after all, and he normally didnt work until 2pm anyway. He obliged and checked on Sammy. He couldnt help but laugh out loud when he found out that the Brown's new pet was, indeed, a pig.

The concert hall was packed with people, which sort of made Ephram nervous, plus, his solo was going to be about 5 minutes long. Madison made it backstage to wish Ephram good luck. She kissed him lightly which seemed to help calm his nerves. Finally it was time for him to go out onstage, and the audience clapped and whistled as he sat down at the piano. It sounded a little like Tchaikovsky then went off into its own beat, slow then faster then even faster, but nothing to the point where it seemed chaotic. To him, the five minutes went quickly and before he knew it, the whole orchestra had joined in. Then not too long after that, the symphony was over and the audience cheered and applauded and whistled, it was nothing he had ever experienced before and he just felt so good. Hopefully his professors would like it as much as the audience did. He would have to wait until Monday to find that out. If he passed this successfully, then he would only have one class next semester before graduation, something everybody was looking forward to.

Couple hours later, the two two headed back home. Madison couldnt wait to see Sammy, she was so excited. When they arrived home, Sammy waddled over to greet them, oinking happily. "Lets go for a walk!" replied Madison as she put on the little piggy harness with the leash attached to it. Ephram still wasnt used to the idea of them having a pig in their house, but he realized he would have to since Madison seemed to adore the thing completely.  
Madison half walked, half dragged the baby pig outside and onto the grass where he could play and frolic. Jacob Lucas had just gotten home from school and noticed the peculiar looking thing in the yard and decided to head over to check it out. "No way!" was all he could yell out. Ephram replied, "I know the feeling." Jacob Lucas then decided to lay on the grass and play with the pig, but Sammy was too busy wandering around to even notice him. At one point though, he did sniff at Jacob Lucas' shoe, just to see what it was. After a few more minutes, the two decided to head back into the house. Once Madison took the leash off of Sammy, she threw her arms around Ephram and laughed, "so we both know that Kyle and Kelly are definitely out. Lets go make a list of names" and she grabbed him by the hand and the two made their way into the kitchen. "List of first names and middle names" replied Madison happily. After a bit of doing so, they exchanged pads of papers with the names on it. 

"Kyle?" asked Ephram, "wouldnt that be a bit masculine for a girl? Kinda like the name Kelly, too feminine for a boy, aint gonna happen." he looked at Madison who was smiling. "I really like Riley...and Randy...Jamie...Kori...hmm..." she looked over the pad, "what about Taylor?"

Ephram shook his head, "reminds me too much of that Taylor Hanson boyband kid?" and the two laughed. "These names are fine, but..."

"But what?" replied Madison curiously

"Do you plan on having quadruplets?"

"I really hope not!" she replied, "but the kid can always have two or three middle names!" and she kissed Ephram happily.

(A/N; thanks to those of you who provided suggestions, they helped a lot and I enjoyed most of them! Who knows, I may even use a few of the names in later chapters! Next chapter we are jumping a few months ahead)  
  



	20. stressed out

About six months later, Ephram and Madison decided, since he had a week off from school for vacation, they would fly out to Colorado to visit the family. They got everything set, Madison took the time off from work, and Jacob Lucas said he would stop by every day to check up on Sammy. "Here are the numbers where we can be reached. Sammy's vet's phone number is on the fridge, make sure he has plenty of food down and has his toys." Madison said as she handed Jacob Lucas a list of things for Sammy, "feel free to take him outside. If you plan on not coming over every day then please put him in his pen downstairs, otherwise he will destroy the house. He's trained so he should follow you down to the pen if you have some treats for him." she chuckled.  
"We're only going to be gone for four days, Jake," said Ephram as he smirked at Madison, "hopefully you can handle it all, if there are any problems, feel free to call us or the vet." and with that, they gave Jacob Lucas the spare house key and left for the airport.   
Ephram has noticed, as time has gone by, Madison has become much more moody and doesnt take his jokes as funny, which, when she yells at him he just laughs it off. Two more months, he thought, then hopefully she'll be done having these mood swings.

Finally they got to Colorado and Delia and Jess met them at the airport. Everybody was so excited to see everybody else and so excited to see Madison and how she has grown in the last 7 months! They lived about 40 minutes or so from the airport, and Delia told the two that "Dad and Bright are going to be so happy to see you! Especially you Madison, Dad just cant stop talking about his daughter in-law and his grand kid!"

"That sucks that you guys are only staying four days!" replied Jess as she looked in the mirror at Ephram in the backseat and then over at Madison in the passenger seat.

"That's what happens when you get a frikken animal!" Delia laughed, "Hope you guys brought pictures of Wilbur."  
"Sammy!" snapped Madison, "and yes, we did. He's getting pretty big, I think. The vet says he may end up being over 60 pounds, which is small for a pig, but we dont care, more to love!"

Ephram exhaled, "dont mind Madison's mood swings..." which made Madison shoot a glare at him, which made Delia laugh because she had never seen that side of Madison before.   
Finally they got home and everybody else greeted them excitedly. The first couple days were rather uneventful, which the two liked. In the afternoon on the third day they were all sitting around playing a card game and Bright came over with a friend of his, and for some reason, seemed to get on Madison's nerves not matter what he said or did. Andy was chatting with Ephram and Madison about how things have been going for the two and what their plans were. "We're thinking of getting a nanny for the first six months since we both work. Then after that I will take paternity leave" Ephram said as he winked at Madison, "Madison's had her job longer so it wouldnt be fair to her to take the time off. Plus, I made arrangements with the Mandolin Symphony and they dont mind that I take the time off." Bright's friend sat down next to them and interrupted, "ya know, that's not a bad idea, paternity leave, I mean. They say that, because women carry the child for 9 months, they are still subordinate and can't do many things men can. They dont have the strength as men do." Andy's jaw dropped as Madison shifted herself to look at this person and as she spoke, her voice grew louder, "Who are you again? Say what you just said again because I dont think I heard you correctly? I may be 7 months pregnant, but I can still kick your ass."

"Oh my god, no! That came out completely wrong!"

"Yes, tell me how it was _supposed_ to come out?!"

Ephram scooted over to his father who seemed to want to stop the fight, Ephram whispered, "dont even try, because then she'll yell at you. I know from experience. These mood swings she has, I cant help but laugh. Just the other day she yelled at me because we didnt have any pickle juice in the house! It was 10pm and I had to go drive around and find a place that was open and that sold pickles in pickle juice!"  
Andy chuckled as he turned on the TV. Just then as Madison was arguing with Bright's friend, seemingly tearing him down and making him afraid of her, Ephram's cell phone rang, it was Jacob Lucas and he seemed frantic. Ephram sort of shouted into the phone over all the noise, "I think what you just listed off, Sammy is stressed out. If need be the vet will make a house call, but calm down, I'm sure there is nothing to worry about. Call the vet, see what he says, if anything is wrong then call us back, okay?" and he calmed Jacob Lucas down before he hung up the phone only to find that Madison was no longer arguing, instead she was looking at him with an evil look. He thought, 'if looks could kill, I'd be dead.', "Sammy's fine!" he managed to yell out before Madison yelled at him first, "he's just stressed out, he misses you, he'll be fine!" He tried to hide the smile that crept over his face so Madison wouldnt yell at him. All of a sudden, Madison started crying, and Ephram couldnt help but shake his head out of amusement since her mood swings were in full force once again. Jess went over and wanted to hug her, but before she did, Ephram warned amusingly, "I wouldnt touch her, she'll just freak out on you." but Jess didnt care and tried to hug her best friend anyway. Madison pushed her away and started yelling at her, "I do not need sympathy! Leave me alone, let me cry in peace, will you please!"

"Just part of her mood swings," Ephram said unconcerned as he and his dad got back to playing the card game, "they pass, then she's back to her normal self for about a day...great stuff I think."

About 10 minutes later, Ephram seemed to be correct, Madison had calmed down and seemed to be, once again, herself. "Jess, I'm so sorry I snapped at you! I'm so sorry I snapped at all of you...It's just the way I get." and with that, she grabbed Jess and pulled her into a hug. "I'm going to miss you when we leave tomorrow! I can just picture Ephram dragging me away as I'm crying and freaking out as I leave you all."

"You're going to have to send us pictures of your kid, you know" said Delia, "and I dont mean Sammy, he's not...uh, necessarily a kid....Just kidding" replied Delia as she noticed Madison shooting her a glare, "more pictures of Sammy will be great!"

That night, Ephram and Madison went to bed. Every night, Ephram places headphones on Madison's belly and plays jazz music so the baby can hear it. Doctors say it works quite well and works wonders. Ephram's not quite sure what those 'wonders' were, but he was up for it. He kissed Madison softly before the two drifted off to sleep. He loved Madison so much and was completely enthralled that they were bringing a baby into this world. 

The next day, the two packed to head home. Delia and Jess took the two to the airport and Jess seemed to cry the whole way there, "here we are again! Crying like a baby, seems to happen twice a year!" Madison and Ephram said their goodbyes to Andy and Bright before they got in the car and headed to the airport.

They got there and as the two headed for the gate, Jess hugged Madison, telling Ephram, "Take care of my girl! And my nephew...or niece!"

Madison sniffed, "I'd say dont cry, but I think it's a little too late for that! I love you guys, and we'll see you soon!" she wiped a tear from Delia's face before she hugged her goodbye. Ephram hugged them before taking Madison by the hand and walking with her through the gate and onto the plane.

Finally they got home and all Madison felt like doing was curling up in bed and falling asleep. Ephram unpacked and found a note on the fridge from Jacob Lucas, _doc says Sammy is fine, just dropped off some piggy pills to calm her down. He also says that Sammy is stressed out because he misses you guys..._Signed, _Jacob Lucas._

Ephram decided to play with Sammy for a little bit before going upstairs to cuddle with his wife. Sammy of course, followed him, oinking happily.

(A/N: thanks for the support everybody...not sure if this chapter came out too well, I'm sort of preoccupied. Plus, I dont have too many ideas right now, just ideas for _After_ Madison has the baby. Hopefully you can bear with me. Oh yes, as for the new fic I was writing....it's now postponed because...*gasp, cry, gasp* I accidentally erased it...So upset its not even funny! But enough of that, it will be posted shortly, hopefully. As always, R&R...thank you muchly!)


	21. and we have, babies!

A month and a half later, Madison was in the hospital for her very last checkup before the due date in a few days of when her child was to be born. One morning she was talking to her doctor and he said, smiling, "I should mention this to you, now, Madison."  
"What?" she asked suspiciouly

"it's just to prepare you so you dont freak out--"  
"If you dont tell me now, Doctor! Then I will freak out!"  
The doctor shifted his glasses then, still smiling, said, "you're going to have twins, and it seems that--"  
Again, Madison interrupted him, "no! Dont tell me!"  
"I was just going to say that the twins are healthy."  
"Oh, sorry" she said trying to calm down, "I thought you were going to tell me the sexes of the children."  
The doctor chuckled, "I know better than that, Madison. A woman in your condition would probably beat me severely and no jury would want to touch that so you'd get off scott free." he smiled, "so where is your husband?"  
"Getting me pickle juice with some cheese. I've found dipping cheese into pickle juice is actually rather good!" she said happily, "Ephram seems to be on edge, has been for the last week because I keep having those fake contractions."

Just then, Ephram, looking tired, bounced into the room where Madison and the doctor were. He handed her the pickle juice and cheese.

The next day, Madison was in delivery, doped up on drugs, but still screaming at anything that moved. Ephram was trying to be calm, "breathe, Madison...hee hee, hee"

"Dont talk to me about _breathing_!" she screamed at him as she squeezed his hand. The doctor called Eprham over just as he saw a bald head coming out of his wife, Madison yelled, "We're having twins!" which, made Ephram faint, but it was a combination of other things as well."  
"Father down" yelled a nurse unconcerned, which, in turn, another nurse rushed over to him and waved somehing in front of his nose. This made Ephram alert, but sort of disoriented, and just as he saw one of his children being handed to the nurse, he couldnt help but faint again. Before he did so, all he could say was, "girl!" and he fell again. Madison was yelling at him at this point in between her pushing and breathing, but he was gone, and instead of trying to awaken him again, one of the nurses dragged him onto a seat outside the delivery room.

When Ephram woke up, he was half sitting in a chair in the room where Madison was, holding the twins as Mama T and Quinn and Skylar were all piled around her. "Welcome back, Ephram!" cried Skylar, "Congratulations, man!"  
Ephram quickly made his way to Madison, "I am so sorry! How long was I out?"  
"Long enough to miss the delivery, but it's okay, Eph." she said smiling, "meet your daughters, Kieron Riley, and Randi Blayze Kellner-Brown."

Ephram was all smiles now as he picked up one of his daughters, "she's so perfect..." he said softly as he held the child in his arms for the very first time. He looked at Madison, "So I'm assuming, Jamey Ryan is going to be the name of our next kid?"

Mama T. chuckled, "hold them horses, son, you have plenty of years ahead of you to have more kids! You'll find that raising them is not all its cracked up to be. Dont get me wrong, though, it's a wonderful experience, but a lot of hard work."

Not too long afterwards, Ephram was left alone with his wife and the his newly born daughters. He kissed Madison longingly, letting her know she was the most beautiful person in the world.

"We can tell the twins apart by the little freckle on Kieron's left foot. Randi doesnt have that" replied Madison joyfully.

Ephram sat beside her bed, "identical twins...we'll have to color coordinate them for the first few years of their lives, you know, so we can tell them apart without looking at their feet." he chuckled.

Tears formed in Madison's eyes, "I'm a mommy!" she said as she gazed at her baby girls.

A few days later they were able to take the girls home and let them meet another member of the family; Sammy. He seemed intrigued at these little bald headed creatures that seemed to wiggle around every chance they got. As soon as Ephram had the chance, he took several pictures of his baby girls with his digital camera then downloaded them and sent them to his family in Colorado. He and Madison took the next couple of days off before the nanny came to work for them. It was hard leaving the twins, but after a couple more weeks, Madison got into this routine where she would go to work, come home for lunch and visit with her babies then head back to work for a few more hours then head home for the night. Their lives have definitely changed, it's hard work taking care of these two helpless children, but it's what motivates Madison and Ephram to become the best parents they could be. Just looking forward to the years to come excited the new parents, but of course, they were in the 'now' and were taking advantage of it. Ephram graduated from Julliard a few weeks before and now worked full time for the Mandolin Symphony. 

(A/N; thanks for the reviews! thanks for the FYI, Couriro, I dont know much about that anyway, I'm just winging it! Definitely a huge thanks to everybody who provided me with a list of unisex names, hope you're not too disappointed with how I arranged them. Since I think that maybe the first few months of baby-ness could be boring, next chapter will be set even a few more months in advance. If I'm moving too fast just let me know! THANKS!!)


	22. creativity

(A/N; years and years into the future—I seem to like doing that, the years thing that is. Hopefully you enjoy these chapters because I enjoyed writing them. As always, tell me what you think, thanks muchly!)

"Jamey Shai Ryan Kellner-Brown!" yelled Ephram as he made his way to the top of the stairs going into the basement, "Get up here now, son!"

A tiny voice innocently yelled back up the stairs, "Am I in twouble?"

"Depends on how fast you can get up here and explain yourself!"

Just then, Ephram and Madison's 6 year old son came running up the stairs as fast as he could. Tears were in his hazel-green eyes as he stopped and looked up at his father who didnt seem too amused. "Go into the kitchen please," replied Ephram sternly, "Kieron and I will be there shortly to discuss what happened. 

As his son bounced sadly into the kitchen, Ephram went into the living room to find his 10 year old daughter, Kieron Riley rolling her eyes at her twin sister, Randi Blayze. "Lets go, now" replied Ephram in a stern voice as he pointed to Kieron and made a gesture towards the kitchen.

Once Kieron Riley entered the kitchen she yelled at her younger brother, "you're such a goober, why'd you tell!"

"Riley!" Ephram said raising his voice, "Shai didnt tell, I figured it out. He's in trouble because he didnt tell me, and you're in trouble because of what you did."  
"Whatever!" yelled Riley as she started crying, "I cant wait til Mom gets home!"

Pursing his lips and folding his arms, Ephram said, "you know darn well what your mom would say, Riley, so dont give me that...Mommy's been gone for three weeks, guys. You've been behaving so good for me and for Quinn and Skylar when I'm at work. Please dont start acting up now. Besides," he said as he tilted his head and slightly smiled, "aren't you the two who told Mommy that you would be on your best behavior while she was out travelling for her job?"  
"I jus' miss hu' that's all" Shai said softly, trying not to cry. His dirty blonde, shaggy hair swaying in front of his eyes.

Rolling her eyes, Riley snapped, "stop being a baby, geeze!"

"Riley, that's enough!" snapped Ephram back to his daughter, "keep it up and you wont be able to go to the airport with us to pick up Mom tonight, got it?"

"You can't do that! Fine!" panicked Riley, "I'm sorry Shai..."

"Hug and make up" grinned Ephram pushing Shai towards his sister.  
Riley patted her brother on the head then walked quickly out of the kitchen with her curly brown hair bouncing behind her. She was the younger of the twins, Randi Blayze was about 5 minutes older. The main difference between the two is that Riley's hair is curly while Randi's hair is not.

Later that night, Ephram packed the three kids into the Escalade and they all made their way to the airport to pick up their mother, Madison. The four were waiting near the gate anticipating the arrival of Madison. Several minutes later, people started emptying the plane and flooding the gate to get out and to greet other people. Riley saw her mother first and couldnt help but shriek and run towards her. Madison dropped her stuff and fell to her knees and embraced her daughter happily. Randi and Shai hustled towards her screaming happily and tackled her in a hug, making everybody fall over. "Guess what," she said beaming happily, "I have a surprise for all of you..." and she pointed through the gate where a bearded gray haired man came gamboling through. "Grampy!" screeched Shai and Randi in unison. Just as the three kids ran and tackled him, Ephram picked his wife up and spun her around, happy to see her. When he put her down he brushed some hair out of her face, "We've missed you so much!" and he touched his forehead to hers, "I love you with all my heart..."  
Smiling, Madison replied, "I love you too. Andy and I devised this plan, you see." she kissed Ephram softly on the lips, "he's here for a couple days to take care of the kids while you and I have some time for ourselves."  
"Thats...a wonderful surprise" grinned Ephram as he embraced his wife in a hug once again. Just as he kissed her again, Randi and Riley and Shai came running towards them, "Mommy! Don't ever leave us again" cried Shai happily, which made Madison reach down and pick him up. She couldnt help but laugh, "I'm thinking you need a haircut young man." and gave him a kiss before putting him down. Shai couldnt help but tell his mom about the events that happened earlier that day as they got their luggage and headed towards the car, "Wiley twied painting Sammy gween today!"  
"With your help!" cried Riley angrily as she hit her brother.

Ephram shut his eyes and shook his head as he took a deep breath. Madison couldnt help but laugh, then Ephram told her, "While I was at work today, Skylar called me and told me that the kids, mainly Riley and Shai, were down in the basement playing with Sammy. Long story short, after Shai got some of the water-based paint on his hands and couldnt get it off, he decided not to partake in the painting of the pig and ran upstairs crying." He then looked at Riley amused, "and then after she figured she'd probably get in trouble, she tried giving Sammy a bath. Granted she managed to get the majority of the paint off of Sammy, but she forgot to wash the RKB initials off of his neck."

"Oh, duhr" said Riley under her breath.

Madison put her arm around her daughter, "sweetie, next time you get the urge to express your creativity, please do so on your canvas or on the wallpaper in your room since that's what it's there for." then she smiled, "I'm sure Sammy didnt appreciate that too much."

Shai laughed, "he su'e didn't, he was mad at us."

Everybody laughed and joked the whole way home. After Madison and Andy got settled in, it was time for the kids to go to bed. Madison promised to tuck them in, which gave Ephram and his dad time to chitchat for a little while. Not too long afterwards, Andy said, "well son, the kids and I have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." he winked at him, "We're going to visit Nonny and possibly stay for the whole day..." he said suggestively.

"Okay dad," replied Ephram trying not to smile as he shook his head, "you can stop right there, dont go any further, please."

Madison came back down just as Andy was heading to the basement to the guest room. Madison winked at Ephram then followed Andy downstairs, all the while calling for Sammy. "Sammy, sweetie, Sammy, where's my baby!"

Hearing the sound of her voice, Sammy started circling his pen and oinking happily as she came into view. Madison got down to his level and he sniffed her cheerfully and pushed on her with his nose. Madison spent some time with Sammy for a little while longer before heading up to bed, where she found Ephram fast asleep. She couldnt help but smile and kiss him softly, whispering, "I love you." 


	23. breakfast in bed

The next morning, Ephram and Madison were awakened by giggles and other little noises coming from the kitchen. It wasn't even 7am, which shocked them even more. The two slowly made their way downstairs and as they got into the kitchen they noticed Andy was helping the kids make breakfast. Randi saw her parents and hissed at them, "get back to bed! We're making you breakfast in bed, don't ruin it!" then she laughed as she shooed them out of the kitchen. "We're going, we're going" replied Madison who dragged Ephram back up the stairs and into the bedroom. He collapsed on the bed and cuddled up to his pillow.

"Ephram?" replied Madison amused.

Opening his eyes, Ephram then turned and looked at his wife, then cuddled up to her, grinning, "maybe if we hurry up and fall back to sleep then the kids will forget about us."

Madison couldnt help but chuckle, "doubt that, sweetheart." she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, "I missed you so much! I'm never travelling for three weeks again, ever! I dont even know why I signed up for the travelling position."  
"To torture me." replied Ephram jokingly as he shut his eyes tightly and grinned, "look at it this way--" just then they heard little feet and little giggles in the hallway and as their bedroom door opened, Ephram threw the covers over his head, "pretend you're asleep, maybe they'll go away" he said playfully.

"Daddy!" laughed Shai, "wake up, wake up!" and he jumped in between his mother and his father and scurried his way under the sheets to wake up his daddy, "breakfus' is weady!"

"What, you mean it's that time again?!" replied Ephram as he started tickling his son.

"We made breakfus' for you and mommy, with grampy's help of course." Shai said happily. 

About an hour later, Ephram and Madison were finally alone. Their kids and grampa Andy were off to see Nonny, their great grandmother who lived about 45 minutes away.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Madison as she sat on the bed next to Ephram, whose head was buried in between two pillows.

"Sleeping"

"Oh no you're not." she said as she tore the covers off the bed, showing off Ephram's boxers. Ephram took his hand out from under his pillow and reached it towards Madison. In his hand was a single pink rose, which made her smile. As she stood over him with her arms folded, he couldnt help but grab her and pull her on top of him, catching her in surprise which made her laugh, making the single pink rose fall to the floor. Her hair was tossed to the side, hanging off her shoulder as she gazed into Ephram's eyes. Ephram made a silly face then rolled on top of Madison, "I love you so much!" Then he jokingly said, "just so you know...our kids are quite the handful."  
Madison put a finger to his lips to stop him from talking, "lets not talk about the kids...in fact..." she smiled slyly, "lets not talk at all..."

"Oh, good idea." he said before leaning down and kissing his wife deeply and passionately. 

The two had a very romantic morning before heading downstairs to the basement to let Sammy out of the pen so he could roam around the house. While the two were in the kitchen, Ephram kept stealing kisses, "you are the most beautiful thing on this earth, Madison, I hope you realize that..."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, "just so you know, I met a man named Julio and I'm having his kids." she winked.

Ephram kissed her, "well, glad you had some fun...while I was _here_...slaving away..."  
Madison laughed as she kissed him. Then playfully put him in a headlock. The two started wrestling and Madison got free and started running all throughout the house. Ephram cornered her in the living room and the only thing between them now was the couch, "give it up" yelled Ephram jokingly, "you have no place to go!"

"that's what you think!" cried Madison as she tossed a blanket over Ephram's head. She threw herself onto the couch then grabbed Ephram's shirt and pulled him over the couch. He wasnt ready for it so instead of landing on her, which was the plan, he ended up falling on her then bouncing off and onto the floor. This caught Madison funny, and she couldnt help but laugh out loud as Ephram sat up confused, "what just happened?" he asked as he looked at her who was still laughing.

"You just got beat!" laughed Madison as she pulled Ephram back up on the couch.

"how about we say we tied?"  
"you're delusional, sweetie." replied Madison amused, "I won, simple as that."

The two lay on the couch wrapped in each other's arms just talking and joking and cuddling. Then Madison said, "you know...it's rathr amusing how Riley is so creative in the way that she likes to paint. Singing seems to be a hobby of hers too. Then it seems as though, Randi is brilliant in the way that she plays an instrument. She can pick up any instrument and play anything without having to practice." then she chuckled, "and to think, baby Shai is tone deaf, can barely draw stick figures and so far hates school and he's only in the 2nd grade."

Ephram chuckled, "yeah, I can see him growing up and joining a cult. One where the members cant say the letter 'R'."  
Madison buried her head into Ephram's neck and tried not to laugh as she thought of her youngest son growing up and joining a cult. "oh my goodness, I love our kids so much, Ephram! They bring great joy."

Reminiscing, Ephram smiled, "yeah, even when they fight and paint Sammy green."  
"or the time when Riley helped Shai get his head stuck between the posts in the bannister and told him it was an art project she had to do and he had to stay there for an hour."

"What would you say..." Ephram thought, "if I suggested moving back to Colorado? It'd be a great change for the kids?"

Tilting her head, Madison thought for a moment before answering.


	24. choices

(thanks for the suggestions people, and I did take them into consideration as you will see in this chapter. Again, thank you muchly for the reviews, they mean a lot.)

"What would you say..." Ephram thought, "if I suggested moving back to Colorado? It'd be a great change for the kids?"

Tilting her head, Madison thought for a moment before answering.

~~~

"Well, what do you think?" Asked Ephram as a smile crept upon his face as he took in Madison's silence, "the kids get out of school in a month, we could move then. But not to Everwood because its such a small town that all the kids are have known each other since birth and dont necessarily like outsiders..." he chuckled, "Delia and I know quite well. I was thinking maybe outside one of the cities? Colorado Springs...Denver...El Paso..."  
Madison looked at him, "You've thought this over, haven't you?"

"obvious?" he asked trying to hide his smile now, "its just that all our family is there"  
She ran her fingers through his hair and slightly smiled and tried to change the subject, "you're getting some gray strands of hair, sweetie."  
"Dont change the subject, what do you think?"  
Madison whispered in his ear amused, "Julio lives in Colorado."  
"Madison?!" replied Ephram sort of irritated.

"...well...we'd have to talk to the kids about it--"  
"done..."

"...well...we'd have to get a real estate agent down there to check out houses--

"done..." replied Ephram again as a smile slid across his face as he shifted his body to get a better look at her. He stole a kiss as she tried to figure out other things to say.

"How'd you know I'd be okay with this?" asked Madison inquisitively

"you talk in your sleep...kidding...." Ephram joked, "you've talked about it before and I figure we should just do it before the kids get any older." he started tickling her to get an answer from her. Laughing, Madison said, "stop, Ephram! I'm pregnant."

Like a jack in the box, Ephram sat up quickly and asked seriously, "are you serious?!"  
"no" laughed Madison and pulled Ephram back down and started tickling him. "Now we're even, sweetheart. Lets do it. Lets move when the kids get out of school!"

"that wasnt funny..." replied Ephram trying not to smile.

Later that day, Andy came home with the kids and were very surprised when they saw their son Shai. "Dad! Andy!" yelled Madison and Ephram in unison as they saw Shai's shaved head, "what'd you do?!"  
"take a deep breath, calm down before you have an anyeurism!" he said calmy as he made a gesture with his hands for them to calm down, "long story short, Riley found the hair clippers in Nonny's bathroom and paid Shai a dollar to shave his head..."  
"another one of your art projects, Ri?" asked Madison not amused.

"What? It's funny!" she said trying to laugh but decided against it when she saw her mom grit her teeth.

"Oh yeah" Ephram said softly to Madison as he turned towards her, "there's an art school near Boulder where we could enroll Riley..."  
"sold, lets move tomorrow!' replied Madison folding her arms looking at her daughter.

"Did dad talk to you about moving to Colorado?" asked Randi as she hugged her mom.

"Yes he did, sweetheart...what do you think about moving out there after school is over?"

"How fa' is Boulder from Eve'wood?" asked Shai touching his head.

Madison smiled, "not too far, we can always visit grampy and auntie Delia on the weekends."

"If we enroll my in the art school, can I stay there, like, do they have dorms or whatever?" asked Riley innocently.

"They might" replied Madison  
"dorms for a 10 year old?!" asked Ephram surprised, "I don't think so."

"We'll talk" replied Madison touching his face before walking into the other room with Shai attached to her leg.

The twins ran up to their room to play while Andy and Ephram were in the living room just talking about how their day went, and how possibly moving back to Colorado would be good for them and how the art school would be best for Riley and her talents.

"Mommy" said Shai as he helped his mom pick out things for dinner, "do you think people will like me?"

Surprised by this, Madison turned towards her son and chuckled, "oh baby Shai, of course people will like you." she picked him up and sat him on the counter, "why wouldn't they like you, everybody loves you?"  
"I dont know... Wiley said that people wont like me now that I have a bald head and look like Miste' Clean..."

Trying not to laugh, Madison hugged him, "don't listen to your sister, sweetheart! Her life's ambition is to make your life miserable, but you have to make her life miserable by pretending what she says doesn't bother you." She bent down to look him in the eyes, "can you do that for me?"

"yes." he gave his mom a quick peck on the cheek then he jumped down off the counter and headed into the living room to play with his father and grandfather, leaving Madison amused as she cooked dinner. Ephram made his way into the kitchen to help Madison get ready for dinner. The two talked about the future happily and how moving would be good for the kids.


	25. road trip

A month later, Madison and Ephram were finishing packing up the house before finally setting off with the kids to head to the outskirts of Boulder Colorado, four days away. They had the walkie talkies so they could talk to each other since they were taking both vehicles; Madison with Randi and Shai and Sammy, who was in the backseat passed out in his cage, while Riley was with her father. The first day was exciting for everybody and there seemed to be no tension between Riley and Shai even though they were in two separate vehicles. Not too much happened the first day, which was paradise to Ephram and Madison.

The next day they stopped off at rest area to eat some lunch and get a bathroom break and to let Sammy out for a little break as well. Riley and Randi were wandering around while Shai was going around to every other person who had a dog to pet it. "Lunch is ready" exclaimed Ephram as he finished cooking the hotdogs and hamburgers over the grill.

"I'll call the kids" smiled Madison while she fed Sammy, "Kids! Randi, Riley and Shai, soup's on!"

Ephram laughed, "Ran's going to be disappointed when she figures out we're not having soup..."

"She'll get over it" winked Madison as she sat back down at the picnic table when Riley came running up. Madison noticed Shai was still petting people's dogs so she called to him once again. He looked up and took about 10 steps before another person's dog caught his eye and he made a beeline for that dog to pet it as well. Madison put her chin in her hands and muffled amusingly, "oh my god...I swear...that boy has the attention span of a goldfish..."  
Randi couldnt help but laugh as she sat down next to her mom. Madison looked at her weird, which made Randi throw her arms on the table and bury her face in them to muffle any sort of laughter that would escape her lips.

Finally, when called again, Shai made his way to the table to join the family for lunch. "Glad you could join us, ya goof" smiled his father as he served him a hotdog.

"sowwy" smiled Shai touching his head.

"Mom called you a goldfish" replied Randi innocently.

"No I didnt..." replied Madison looking at her daughter.

"Yes you did." 

"noooo...I did not! I said he had the _attention. Span._ of a goldfish, completely different sweetheart."

"Hey Mister Clean, how was it spending time with your species?" asked Riley jokingly.

Shai just looked at her and frowned, not sure what to say.  
Riley joked again, "you know, I just now noticed how big your ears are..."  
"well you have a big mouth" snapped Shai  
"Oh good comeback!" yelled Randi with food in her mouth.

Madison shook her head as she looked at Ephram who was trying not to pay too much attention to his bickering kids.

"Here's an idea," Madison said as she put her arm around Riley, "lets go around the table, starting with Ri, and say what we like about everybody else. Ri, start with Shai."  
"you're kidding, right?" asked Riley disgusted, "we havent done this for three or four years, why do we have to start now?"  
Madison joked, "because we are going to be stuck in the same car for three to four days and I dont want to have to listen to all this."

"Fine..." Riley said as she raised her head and snubbed her brother. She paused to think, then said slowly with a grin, "Shai, I like you because...you're fun...to tease and torment--"  
"_Riley!"_ snapped Ephram, trying not to smile.

"What?" she said raising her arms and looking at her father in disbelief, "its true..."

Randi buried her face in her arms once again, trying to muffle the laughter.

"Hey, hey" Riley said as she picked up a stick and looked it over, then looked at her brother, "I got a joke, ready?"  
Shai nodded as he bit into his food.

"Okay...two guys walk into a bar and the third guy ducks....get it?"

Shai looked at her and shook his head, the joke confused him, which was exactly what Riley was going for, so she explained it, "okay...two guys...walk into a bar...the third guy ducks...to put it in terms _you_ can understand, two guys walk into a bar" and with that she proceeded to smack her brother on the side of the head with the stick and started laughing as he tried to duck but fell out of his seat instead, "ha! That works! And the third guy ducks, very good goofy, you're getting it!"

Madison's mouth dropped open but nothing came out, instead she covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head.

"Go play..." Ephram said to the kids who seemed to be too antsy to stay in their seats for too much longer, "take Sam!" he said as he gave the leash to Randi.

"Tell me again why we didnt fly?" asked Madison to Ephram who sat next to her.

"A new experience?" replied Ephram. He wrapped his arms around his wife as she put her head on his chest. He proceeded to give her a sweet gentle kiss.

"Too bad we cant get separate hotel rooms from the kids" joked Madison as she hugged Ephram's midsection.

He chuckled, "well, we could, but we'd probably end up with one or two less children by morning. Unless of course the management folk could deadbolt the door from the outside."

"We can only hope" Madison laughed as she brushed some hair out of her face. They talked a little while longer before figuring it would be best to hit the road again.

The next couple days were, thankfully, not as eventful as that day and finally they got to Colorado and the kids were quite excited to finally be so close to their new home. They got to a residential neighborhood and when Madison started recognizing the same colored houses and same people standing outside, she picked up the walkie talkie and beeped Ephram, "Ephram, why does it seem as if we are going in circles?"

Sort of preoccupied, Ephram replied, "uhhmm...this is Allen Avenue, right? The number is 245 but we said no ranch style houses, but there uhhmm...uhh, doesnt seem to be a 245 around here..." his voice trailed off, still preoccupied.

There was a pause, then Madison replied back, "Ephram, sweetheart, is Shai your navigator? We're on Alvinn Boulevard and if you notice, its sort of a Latino residential area, which should have clued you in that your navigator isnt doing that great of a job!"

She clicked off the reciever and jokingly said to the girls, "never leave it up to your father your brother to find a new place. Never leave it up to any boy for that matter."

Riley took the walkie talkie and started talking, "Dad, you're incomprehensible...er, I mean, incomp..uhh"  
"Ri, what are you trying to say?" asked Ephram amused

"innnn....com...petent? Yes! You're incompetent daddy!" she replied triumphantly.

"gotcha...okay Mom, lead the way" chuckled Ephram, "we'll follow you now." and with that, Madison lead everybody away from the Latino neighborhood and into the section of town they were supposed to be in about 15 minutes away. "Oh kids, guess what" Madison said happily as they turned into the driveway of their new two story slate colored house, "we get a pool."

"No Way!" cried Riley as she gawked out the window at the house, "do we get a basement too?!" but she didnt wait for the answer and got out of the car as soon as it parked. The three kids wandered around happily while Madison put her arm around Ephram's shoulders and the two stood in the middle of the yard to gaze at their new house. "I absolutely love you, Ephram" Madison said before wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you too" smiled Ephram before kissing his wife sweetly. 

"Oh, guess who lives about five houses down to the right" grinned Madison as she saw a familiar face running down the street, "Jess!!"

(A/N: sorry for the lack of updates lately, they should start rolling again. Thanks for the reviews everybody, they mean a lot, so keep 'em a' comin'! Keep doin' what you're doin', I enjoy hearing from you folks!)


	26. something from the past

Ephram had been eyeing his wife all morning, she was just so beautiful. While they were making lunch he kept kissing her neck, then turned her around and kissed her passionately. At first she protested, but then she gave in and kissed him back.

"We cant do this!" she laughed in between kisses as Ephram pinned her against the fridge.

"Why not?" asked Ephram innocently, trying not to smile as Madison wiped her wet hands on his face.

"the kids have only a half day of school today and you have to be to work in about 20 minutes..." she looked at him as if to say, 'I'm right'

Ephram tilted his head as he held onto Madison's waist, "I called out..."

Surprised, Madison then said, "what about the kids, they'll be home in about an hour..."

"Jess decided to take them for a while..."

"What are you saying?" asked Madison slyly as she continued to wipe her wet hands on his shirt now since she was still sort of pinned between him and the fridge.

"What do you think?" he asked as he leaned in closer to her.

Smiling widely now, she said, "I dont know, what am I supposed to think?"

Ephram reached into his backpocket and pulled out two tickets to a concert.

Confused, Madison took them and studied them, "an orchestral concert in tribute to Jeffery Jacob?! Ephram, is this what I think it is?"

"What do you think it is?" he asked

"Stop that!" she laughed then looked at the tickets again.

"It's one of the past dates we went on millions of years ago and I want us to experience it again even if its not exactly the same." he kissed her softly, "now we have to get ready cuz it starts in less than 2 hours."  
Madison touched his face, "it doesnt need to be exactly the same, all I need is you and everything else is a bonus."

"I figured, the weather is nice so if we dress casually then we could just walk since the hall is less than a 20 minute walk from us."

They finally made it to the concert hall and Madison was so excited, she and Ephram hadnt been on a 'real date' since their kids were born, "this means so much to me!" she screeched as she pulled on Ephram's arm as they walked in to find their seats. He wrapped an arm around her waist, "you mean so much to me..." he looked at her, "you're so beautiful..."

They found their seats and sat down. Madison noticed the hall was empty, she figured even though it was during the middle of a weekday there would still be people in the hall, but she was wrong and Ephram noticed that she was looking around sort of confused. Just then, Jeffery Jacob came out on stage with a microphone as the orchestra stopped practicing. He waved to Ephram, since he and Madison were in the 4th row. "Hi there kids, nice to see you could join us. Now, this first piece goes out to a very special lady in Ephram Brown's life, one, he says, who has changed his life and has inspired him to do what he loves." and with that, he winked in Madison's direction the signaled for the orchestra to start playing. The piece they played first was the one Ephram had written for Madison over 12 years ago and it brought tears of joy to her eyes as soon as she recognized it. She couldnt help but put an arm around Ephram's neck and pull him to her. She put her head against his, "this is so wonderful!"

Ephram couldnt help but smile, he loved it when his wife was happy.

When that piece ended and a few others were played, Jeffery Jacob spoke again, "I've had the pleasure of knowing Ephram for many years now and I knew he loved his wife but I never realized how much until he called me up and asked if I would be in or around Colorado during a certain time. I told him I would make a special trip from Indiana just for him but he had to tell me what he was planning." he paused and looked at Madison, "he said, 'I want to surprise Madison with something from our past, so it will remind her that we can always act like teenagers'..." he smiled, "now, out of my 30 or so years of being in the music business, which I have lost count, nobody has ever said that to me and I just had to come and participate. After all these years, he is still so much in love with you and its a beautiful thing to see and experience." and with that, he signaled to the orchestra to play one last piece before ending the performance. Madison teared up once again, when she looked at Ephram who was looking at her, she couldnt help but chuckle and wipe away the tears. The harpsichord could be heard in the background and Ephram couldnt help but grab Madison's hand and lead her into the aisle and dance with her.

"This is...this is so romantic" smiled Madison as she wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear.

As they were walking home arm in arm, it started to lightly rain but they decided to keep walking instead of catching a cab. Just then, as they were about 5 minutes from home, the dark clouds rolled in and the thunder and lightning started, "oh this isnt good!" laughed Ephram as he grabbed his wife's hand so they could start running. It was pouring rain as they ran along, Madison jokingly said as she happily jumped in big puddles, "these aren't just rain drops, they're little missles!" She grabbed Ephram's hand as she continued jumping in puddles as they ran, her hair suctioned to the side of her face, the rain pouring down her face.

As they got to their doorstep, Ephram couldnt help but pull her back into the rain and kiss her. He pressed his body to hers as he kissed her deeply, slipping his tongue into her mouth. The two forgot about everything and were just so immersed in each other when the thunder cracked so loud that it made Madison jump. She laughed as she buried her face into Ephram's neck.   
"Lets get inside" he laughed. They hurried inside and started peeling off their wet clothes, leaving a trail behind them, as they made their way upstairs. "I need to take a shower!" chuckled Madison as she rang out her wet hair as she stood in a tanktop and her white slacks. Ephram pulled her close to him and simply said, "I need you..." and proceeded to kiss her once more. He was half expecting her to protest, but she kissed him back eagerly before pushing him on the bed. They hadnt had time to themselves for a long time and they wanted this moment to last.

"I love you..." Ephram whispered breathlessly before falling asleep after their romantic time together.

A few hours later, there were loud footsteps coming up the stairs and muffled laughter, which woke Madison and Ephram up. Just then, their bedroom door opened and their kids filled the room, Shai threw himself on the bed, "Jess is so much fun! She said you guys needed some time togetheu', but...why would you want to sleep all day?!"

Ephram squeezed his wife's hand under the sheets as he smiled at her.

"We went bowling today and can you believe it, Mister Clean beat us!" yelled Riley, "who'da thunk he was good at anything!" and she laughed as Madison grabbed her and pulled her onto the bed, tickling her. Randi asked, "Can Jess take us bowling some other time, we really had fun" she made her way onto her parents bed.   
"Anytime, sweetie" smiled Madison, "you know" she said looking around, "all we need now is--"

"Sammy!!" Yelled Shai as he jumped off the bed and tried picking Sammy up to put him on the bed.

"Hey," replied Ephram, "Lets see who can sit still the longest" he smiled tiredly as he saw Riley's face.

"Are you insane?" she asked disgusted, "who _does_ that?! I would rather go watch TV, thanks anyway." and she quickly left the room.

Randi chuckled, "I get it Daddy, you're tired so you want us to leave, we'll see you when you wake up and come downstairs!" and she grabbed her brother by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of the room, shutting the door behind them.   
Ephram turned to his wife and laughed quietly as he kissed her neck, "too bad they didnt take the pig!" and Sammy started oinking impatiently since nobody was paying attention to him. "It's like, the older he gets the more impatient he gets..."

In a little kid voice, Madison replied as she looked at Sammy, "well, he is the wittle piggy of the house ya know!"

"Madison...." Replied Ephram, "if you notice, he practically weighs more than Shai." he laughed, "Maybe if we ignore him long enough he will lay down and fall asleep."

"Could that be considered child abuse?" Madison asked jokingly as she cuddled up to Ephram. The two talked and joked a little while longer before finally kicking Sammy out of their room so they could have just a little bit more alone time together.


	27. controlled chaos

(A/N; wooo booy! Sorry everybody for the lackage of updatage! Summer classes have started, training for work as started, everything is just so busy. Hope you didnt think I forgot about the Ephison shippers! Lol, thanks to a couple of you who decided to check up on me, I'm fine and healthy, just with a case of writers block. Guess it doesnt help when I have school, work and training....I should update my other fic sometime this week as well!)

Ephram was sitting on the couch watching TV when Madison leaned over the couch and slowly put her lips to his and continued to kiss him passionately. Something he was definitely not expecting. After she pulled away, she walked in and stood in front of the TV, which made Ephram smile out of amusement because she wouldnt move even when he asked her to.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she slowly walked over to him, but she didnt answer, instead she lowered herself on top of him, and straddled his lap, putting her arms around his neck before kissing him passionately once again. Ephram slightly moaned, he was surprised. After Madison slowly pulled away, Ephram's head was tilted and his eyes were still closed. "Th-that....uh, uh was a wonderful surprise." When he regained his composure, Madison was smiling at him, but said nothing. All Ephram could say was, "again...what are you doing? I mean, not that I mind--"

Just then, Riley and Shai could be heard running down the stairs yelling at each other, which made Madison laugh as she discreetly moved herself off of her husband to one side, "spontaneity at it's best" she whispered as she playfully bit his ear, "even when the kids are in the house!"

"MOM!!!" yelled Riley, "Stupid Jamey Shai Ryan hid my painting! It's due tomorrow!"

Shai and Riley were arguing as Madison stood up and tried to break them up. Just then Randi came in the house screaming happily, "I thought Sammy needed a friend, mommy!" she yelled from the other room, "a friend of mine gave me their very cute Great Dane puppy since it was in need of a new home!" The house, at that moment, was a sort of controlled chaos with everybody yelling at each other and arguing, Ephram just sitting back taking it all in. Madison couldnt help but slightly smile as she put her hand to her forehead out of frustration. The Great Dane puppy, which wasn't really that small and looked like a miniature horse, was so energetic that it jumped the back of the couch and attacked Ephram with slobbery kisses!  
"I wanna name her Tiger!" laughed Randi over the loud TV, which the dog managed to turn up the volume by stepping on the remote, the arguing siblings and the yelling Ephram as he tried gently to get the dog off him.

Madison raised her arms then threw them down by her side as she yelled, "_Time Out! Time OUT!"_ Her voice seemed to echo and the dog seemed to happily sit down with her tongue hanging out and tail wagging, and all the kids stopped yelling and turned their eyes on their mom.

Surprised to see everybody paying attention she chuckled, "oh, wow, I didn't actually think it would work." she was proud of herself and nodded her head once before going on, "anyway, anyway, first" she said as she looked at Shai, "Unless you want to be grounded, I suggest you give your sister's painting back to her." And with that, Shai automatically ran upstairs to find the painting. "Randi, if you want to keep this dog, she's going to have to be trained--"  
"Done" Randi smiled cheerily, "potty trained, she can sit, we're working on 'stay', she's very respectful and doesnt drool too much!"

"If she doesnt get along with Sammy then she'll have to go--"  
"Oh she does! They love each other."  
"How do you know that?" asked Ephram suspiciously as he moved to get a better look at his daughter.

Randi paused, then she said candidly, "for the last week we, uh, have, um, been bringing Tiger over here and she and Sammy have met a few times."  
"Did you know about this?" asked Ephram amused as he looked at Madison who had a hand on her hip and gave her daughter a quizzical look.

"OH!" Riley said as she just remembered something, "before I forget" she thought for a second, "nevermind, I forgot..." and she went over to sit next to her father and to introduce herself to the new pet. This Great Dane puppy was white with black dots on the front part of her body. Her face was black except for a piece of white under her left eye. "This dog actually looks mean" thought Riley aloud, "Maybe we can train her to attack Shai! Every time we call him Jamey then she pounces on him and bites his head off!" Before either of her parents could say anything, she clapped her hands and ran to her room, "Brilliant idea, Sherlock, Brilliant!" Her parents just stared after her, then Ephram said joking, "I think she was adopted..." and he shook his head as if to say, its the only possible explanation, "She cant be one of ours..."  
"Oh daddy," said Randi as she started playing with her new giant sized puppy, "since we have the day off tomorrow from school, can I visit Ry at the art school? She's allowed to have a family member join her for a day as long as its alright with everybody."

Ephram looked at her with a sort of confused look upon his face, then Madison replied, "It's alright sweetheart, we got that little paper signed so if you want to then you can go with her tomorrow morning."

"Oh, and daddy" she went on asking him another question he did not know, so he asked her, "Ran...why are you asking _me_? Mom's the one who knows all the answers, I'm just her sidekick and she tells me things when I need to know. So ask her, will you." he said with a smile.

It seemed, just as quickly as the chaos began, it quickly dispersed, leaving Madison and Ephram alone together on the couch.

He put his arm around her and pulled her close to him, "know what I found out today at work..." he didnt sound too hapy.

Madison shifted towards him to get a better look, but she didnt say anything. "I mean, dont get me wrong, it's a great opportunity, it's just..." he sighed

"Eph..." Madison said, "what's this great opportunity that you dont seem to want to take? Talk to me."

"I have to go to Boston at the end of this week for a week because the Boston Symphony wants me to play with them. I guess...I guess you could say they are hiring me. Now, the problem is, we both know I dont like travelling."

"It's only a week." Madison tried to sound upbeat and convincing, "it'll go by quickly!"  
"Well, the way it was set up was like this; apparently there are only two other pianists that are as good as I am that the Boston Symphony looked at, and one's retired and the other is on vacation in Alaska, which leaves me so I have to go cuz my boss said so."

"At least it's not three weeks, like the two times I decided to take up that travelling thing for my job."

Ephram chuckled, "yeah, well, at least the first time we didnt have kids!"  
"Jess will help us out, Ephram. It's only a week, and if need be, Auntie Delia will look after them."

The two sat together cuddling and watching TV for the rest of the evening before getting up to make dinner for the family around 8pm. Sammy waddled after them, oinking happily.

Madison tugged on Ephram's shirt on their way to the kitchen, pulling him backwards then pushing him forward until he started laughing for her to knock it off. She then pushed him up against the counter, and nibbled his ear, he chuckled, "I'm going to start calling you 'Nibbles'!" and he turned around and planted small kisses all over her face, intentionally missing her lips. Then she grabbed his face and planted a big wet kiss on his lips, smiled then got back to figuring out what to make for dinner. Ephram stood there, watching her before helping her. "I. Love. You." he said to her as he started boiling water.

Madison flung her hair behind her, raised her eyebrows then mouthed back, "I love you more!" and shut her eyes tightly and smiled big. The two continued to act like that until Shai decided to come down and join them.


	28. marry me again

(A/N; sorry everybody for the serious lack of updates for this fic, this one I have sort of lost interest in writing. I KNOW!! It's a shame, I dont know if this will be the last chapter, but it should be since I dont care for it anymore and I dont want it to turn out bad....We shall see....)

"Ever notice how quiet it is now that it's the summer and the kids aren't here?" Madison said to Ephram one night as she leaned against on the couch.  
Ephram laughed, "I know, it's amazing! Who'da thunk my father would want to take them for two weeks on a road trip! Shai and Ri can't be in the same room without fighting, I'm surprised Dad hasnt called and told us that one of the kids ran away."  
Madison became nostalgic as she placed her head on Ephram's shoulder, "remember when we went to England several years ago?"

"How could I not? Shai was born at the hospital in Wales and the language barrier—granted it was English—was the hardest thing for me to overcome!"

"You!? I'm the one who had to stay in the hospital for several days! I was amazed I didnt start speaking with that English accent by the time I left."  
"I never did like tea until that experience." he smiled, then with his best British accent said, "would you like some tea and crumpets ol' chap?"

"the doctor said that I had a nice bloke for a husband." she laughed, "I didnt know what that meant at first!"  
The two laughed as they thought back to the time when Shai was born in a foreign land.

Pensively, Madison said after a while, "I think we should start travelling more."  
"What are you saying?" he asked as he put his arm around her and kissed her head.

"Whether it be with the kids or just by ourselves, we should go to a new destination at least once a year."

"Sounds like a wonderful idea, Madison, however, you're forgetting something." he half smiled, "you're the busiest during the summer, promoting new bands and stuff like that, there is no way you could get time off."  
"yeah there is...I feel like retiring..."  
"What?" he asked surprised as he sat up and looked at Madison, "when did you decide this?"

"Well, nothing is decided yet, but it's a big possibilty. I mean, I want to spend more time with you and the kids. Just the idea of not having to go to work anymore thrills me to no end."

The two talked about their options for a little while longer before Randi's dog, Tiger, the miniature looking horse, came doddling up to them with Sammy not too far behind, oinking happily. Ephram laughed happily, "what would we do with these guys if we did start travelling?"  
"Take 'em with us..." she said, the noticed Ephram's expression and said, "just kidding."

The two made their way to the kitchen to find something to snack on. They were laughing and joking and it seemed to Ephram the perfect time to ask Madison a question he had wanted to ask her for a little while now.

"How long have we been married now?" he asked as he leaned over the kitchen's bar to get closer to Madison.

"Over 11 years now, sweetie, why?"

Ephram couldnt help but smile. He made his way over to her, pulled something out of his pocket and got down on one knee.

"What are you doing you weirdo?" she asked laughing.

Still smiling, Ephram took her hand, "you still make me the happiest person alive, Madison. I was wondering if you would marry me? Again?"

Pulling him up, Madison threw her arms around him, "how can I say no to such a random question! Ephram, I love you, of course I'll marry you! Again!"

(A/N; I am so very sorry for having to end it here, but I am out of ideas! Hope it's not too disappointing even though I realize this wasnt that great of an ending chapter...take care!)


End file.
